Brighton hospital trust apologises as dozens of doctors underpaid

Junior doctors have expressed anger after medical staff at a Brighton hospital were underpaid.

About 85 staff at the Royal Sussex County Hospital were left short in August, 35 of whom received no pay at all, the BBC understands.

University Hospitals Sussex apologised following the payment errors, and said all those affected should now have at least some of their pay.

The British Medical Association has warned the episode will damage morale.

The new medical year begins on 24 August, and many junior doctors move from one placement to another at the start of that month – often changing hospitals.

One of the junior doctors who didn’t receive any pay spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity.

“I’d woke up in the morning and there was no money in the account,” she said.

“I went into work the next day and found out that lots of other doctors hadn’t been paid.”

The doctor said the error left colleagues out of pocket.

“There are people I know who had to borrow money from charitable funds just to pay their bills, or nursery fees for their children,” she said.

Another junior doctor at the Royal Sussex told the BBC he was left questioning whether he wanted to stay in the NHS.

“I’m waking up really stressed. Going on to my nightshifts really stressed. I’m agitated by it,” he said.

“It’s not providing any positivity at home because we’ve got nothing to demonstrate we can actually afford past this month.”

The British Medical Association – the doctors’ trade union – said the situation was “outrageous”.

The co-chair of its Junior Doctor Committee, Dr Mike Kemp, said: “There needs to be transparency over why these payment issues occurred and ensure these problems are not a continuing occurrence.”

David Grantham, a senior officer at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, apologised to those affected.

He said: “As soon as we were made aware of the problem we began making initial payments to those affected, and we continue to investigate each person’s individual circumstances to ensure they receive what they are owed.”