Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration remit letter: 2027 to 2028
Published 15 July 2026
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Mark Hoble
Chair, Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration
Office of Manpower Economics
First floor, 10 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0NB
Dear Mr Hoble,
I would like to offer my thanks on behalf of the government, to you and all members of the Review Body for Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) for your dedicated work throughout the past year in preparing the 2026 to 2027 report. The government appreciates the independent, expert advice and valuable contribution that the DDRB makes.
We were pleased to be able to accept your headline pay recommendations for 2026 to 2027. I write to you now to commence formally the next pay round for 2027 to 2028 in line with your terms of reference. As part of this, we will provide our departmental evidence as usual in the autumn, alongside that of other unions. Our evidence will set out the funds available to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) for 2027 to 2028, as well as the recruitment and retention context, earnings data and the 10 Year Health Plan - our strategy for building an NHS fit for the future.
On 29 June 2026 the British Medical Association Resident Doctor Committee (BMA RDC) announced that their membership had voted to accept the offer made to them by the government. This means the pay structure will be amended in line with the nodal point reform outlined in the offer document. Government investment into this deal beyond the DDRB recommendations, including nodal point reform, is intended to recognise the greater service and the system gains as resident doctors progress and work more productively. It is not the government’s intention that this is considered as a substitute for a future pay award.
With that in mind, we invite you to make recommendations on an annual pay award for all doctors and dentists, including contractor general medical practitioners.
We remain committed to bringing 2027 to 2028 pay announcements forward further so that awards can be made as close to the start of the financial year as possible. That is why we are launching this pay round earlier than the previous pay round. I would be grateful if you could support a prompt pay announcement by submitting your report at the earliest point that allows you to give due consideration to the relevant evidence. I recognise that changing the timeline from recent years will present challenges for you, but I am sure you also share the government’s belief in the importance of returning to more timely annual pay processes. To enable you to submit your report earlier, our department will aim to meet your deadlines and bring the evidence process forward.
As always, while your remit covers the whole of the United Kingdom, it is for each administration to make its own decisions on its approach to this year’s pay round and to communicate this to you directly.
I would like to thank you again for this review body’s invaluable contribution to the pay round and look forward to receiving your report for 2027 to 2028 in due course.
Yours ever,
The Rt Hon James Murray, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care