
Clinical Pay Scales
Consultants are paid on a national scale and the salary will increase based on the salary progression on the relevant threshold date (this is the anniversary of the start date of the individual’s first consultant post).
The clinical consultant salary scales effective 1 October 2019 can be viewed here.
Additional clinical payments
Consultants may be eligible for clinical payments in addition to the basic salary and are subject to approval.
Clinical Additional Programmed Activities (Clinical APAs)
- These are for additional clinical activity over the standard 10 PAs
- Normally funded by the NHS Trust/Body where the clinical duties are being undertaken
- Detailed on each individual job plan and may change from year to year.
Academic Additional Programmed Activities (Academic APAs)
- Scheme operates for APAs funded by a Fellowship
- Detailed on each individual job plan and may change from year to year.
Additional Responsibility Allowances
- These are for additional duties in addition to the agreed job plan, for example, Sepsis Clinical Lead, and paid at the equivalent of a Programme Activity
- Funded by the relevant NHS Trust/Body
- Detailed on each individual job plan and may change from year to year
- Can be in addition to the 12PA job plan ceiling.
On-call Supplement
- % of basic salary for clinical duties out of standard hours instructed and funded by NHS Trust/Body where the clinical duties are being undertaken
- Detailed within the annual job plan. Any changes throughout the year for CUHNHSFT consultants are instructed via a P3 (payment instruction) and these are ad hoc.
- The value of an on-call supplement is:

National and Local Clinical Excellence Awards
- Annual application process and externally funded
- Recognises clinical excellence over and above standard duties
- See separate webpages for more detail here.
Other clinical payments
Subject to negotiation and agreement with the Head of the School of Clinical Medicine or Head of HR.
Should you have any queries about consultant pay, please contact cshrclinical@admin.cam.ac.uk.
Job Plans
All consultants and Senior GPs are required to have a Job Plan in place for the NHS Trust/Body where clinical consultant work is undertaken. A job plan is required in addition to an honorary clinical consultant contract with the NHS Trust/Body and duties will be jointly agreed through the integrated job planning process taking into account all duties for the University and the NHS Trust/Body.
Job Planning Guidance notes from NHS Employers can be found here.
Approvals Process
At the same time, the Clinical School Recruitment Adviser writes to all Clinical School consultants with the job planning process for the forthcoming year.
Consultants should discuss the job plan with their Head of Department, Clinical Service Lead, Clinical Director or Divisional Director, before being approved by the Medical Director and Head of the School of Clinical Medicine.
Job Plan and Additional Programmed Activities
A job plan is an annual agreement that sets out duties, responsibilities and objectives for the coming year. A standard job plan is 10PAs (usually 5 academic/research and 5 clinical for academic positions) and consultants can have up to an additional 2 clinical APA’s, with the maximum number of PAs being 12.
Responsibility Allowance
Responsibility Allowances are not only appropriate where the ceiling of 12 PAs has been reached, but on all occasions when a time limited/externally funded payment for a specific purpose has been agreed. This means that when the funding ends, so does the Responsibility Allowance. Responsibility Allowances are to be included within the job plan.
CUHNHSFT Job Plan Portal and Guidance
The link to the CUHNHSFT job planning portal is here.
Online guidance can be found below.
Job plans for other NHS Trust/Bodies use a standard template and a template document can be provided by the Recruitment Adviser.
Clinical Duties at more than one NHS Trust/Body
Some consultants work clinically with two or more NHS Trusts/Bodies. In this situation, the consultant will need to have a single integrated job plan for the associated NHS Trusts/Bodies, with approval from the Head of Department, Clinical Lead, Clinical Director and Medical Director from the relevant NHS Trusts/Bodies.
Pay Thresholds
A signed and approved job plan must be in place for the current job planning year before any increments and associated payments can be implemented (See Annex D – Contract of Employment).
Responsible Officer
Responsible Officers (ROs) are the individuals within designated bodies who have overall responsibility for helping you with revalidation. A designated body is the organisation (likely to be your main employer) that will support you with your appraisal and revalidation. In practice, the Responsible Officer is usually the Medical/Deputy Medical Director of the NHS Trust/Body where the majority of clinical work is undertaken.
Private Practice
Please refer to Private Practice webpages.
Should you have any queries regarding the job planning process, please contact the Recruitment Adviser, Clinical School HR Team, or Beverley.Collins@addenbrookes.nhs.uk Medical Staffing, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.