Ex-GP turned MSP backs consultant bonus freeze

LOTHIANS SNP MSP and former Wester Hailes GP Dr Ian McKee has welcomed the decision by Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon to freeze bonus payments to NHS consultants.

Ms Sturgeon announced yesterday she had written to the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body saying she wished the budget for "distinction awards" to be pegged at this year's level.

And she said she had also written to Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the health secretaries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, calling for a UK-wide review of the awards system, which costs 28 million a year in Scotland.

Dr McKee said he was delighted at the moves. "This is the first time in 61 years that any health secretary has had the courage to challenge the system and do something about it. The present system is clearly unfit for purpose."