HOW IS this for a new contract? You are going to receive a 20 per cent pay increase, a limit on the number of hours you have to work, extra cash for ‘emergency’ work and freedom to practise pnvately in your free time This is the bare ones of the agreement the government has struck with consultants. The devil is not in the details in this case - consultants have negotiated to have their cake and eat it too. For example, a new consultant will now have to undertake two four-hour sessions for the NHS before being allowed to practise privately This will be paid pro rata by the way, lifting the basic salary from ￡63,000 to ￡75,600. If a new consultant goes ahead with private work anyway, refusing the enticements of extra NHS work, he or she will lose entitlements to salary increments. But if the consultant does no private work and instead takes the time for leisure, he or she will not lose the increments. In short, if a consultant wants more time to sail around the Greek islands on a yacht, the government has said ‘OK’.