NHS consultants are too rich to strike, a leading doctor has told his co-workers.
Dr David Randall described calls to give senior medics a 35 per cent pay rise as “eye-watering”.
Thousands in the British Medical Association are set to strike on July 20 and 21 — immediately after a five-day walkout by junior doctors.
Consultants earn £128,000 a year on average but say their pay has dropped by a third in real terms since 2008.
Dr Randall, a London-based kidney consultant, told a BMA conference: “A non-negotiable 35 per cent pay restoration is an eye-watering demand.
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“Many of us have sufficient financial security to strike indefinitely.
“Three weeks ago I was working nights, covering the strike.
"Two nurses asked if it was true I was earning £230 an hour, similar to what they were earning for the 13-hour shift.
"What could I say? It was true.
“They and other colleagues have accepted five per cent.
“Thirty-five per cent is the wrong goal and strikes the wrong approach.
"Let’s push for a rise but one that allows us to look our colleagues and patients in the eye.”
Dr Randall said he would not strike, adding: “Personally I don’t feel I’m badly paid.
“If we accept that economic growth has not kept pace with inflation and we’ve all got poorer, I don’t think doctors should be the only ones not to feel that pain.”
Nearly 21,000 consultants voted in favour of a strike last month — about a third of the 59,000 total.
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It means most operations and treatments will have to be postponed.
Dr Phil Banfield, chairman of the BMA council, yesterday warned the NHS’s 75th anniversary celebration “threatens to be a wake” amid the crisis.
Acas says it is ready to help resolve the row between the Government and junior docs.
Note: The BMA has denied that it wants a 35 per cent pay rise for consultants and said it is seeking an unspecified "above-inflationary" increase.
