Shadow chancellor George Obsorne has pre-empted the DDRB's 2011 deliberations by promising a pay freeze for all public sector staff earning more than £18,000 a year.
In an exclusive interview for GP newspaper earlier this week, shadow health minister Mark Simmonds declined to pledge to abide by the DDRB's recommendations.
‘Of course we'll listen to the pay review body,’ he said, ‘but that doesn't mean we're always going to agree with it. It depends on what the review body recommends and it'll be a matter for the chancellor to make those decisions.’
But in the video interview above Dr Laurence Buckman, chairman of the GPC, said that, although the Treasury was entitled to express a view to the DDRB, it should not be able to simply impose its view.
‘What is the point of having an independent review body that you then second guess and say we're not going to do that.
‘It's not the way the review body should be treated,’ he added. ‘If we're going to have to abide by what the review body does, we expect everybody else to as well.’
Video: BMA warns politicians to keep hands off DDRB
The GPC has hit out at claims that a Conservative government could ignore the recommendations of the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body (DDRB).
