The Doctors and Dentist Pay Review Body (DDRB)

This resource provides a history of the DDRB, and links to archived LMC advice and guidance pages.

This page and its child pages have been archived

Please be aware that this page and its child pages are retained for historical reference only. The information contained within is no longer current and has been superseded.

Background 

The Doctors and Dentist Pay Review Body (DDRB) was established in 1960 following the Report of a Royal Commission into Doctors and Dentists pay: colleagues should note this followed the establishment of the NHS in 1948, and the financial and economic challenges of the post-war years. A sense of the circumstances surrounding the creation of the DDRB is conveyed by the article attached at the end of this letter, which is of its time; colleagues may particularly note the first sentence of paragraph 2. 

Over the years the role of the DDRB has been criticised but it is one of the few non-departmental public bodies now well into its seventh decade, so it has undoubtedly fulfilled its purpose, although probably this is in part due to the challenge of establishing an alternative. 

A report by the British Medical Association (BMA) (endorsed by the British Dental Association) describing the “failings” of the Pay Review process for Doctors and Dentists.

which gives some historical context as well as a detailed commentary on recommended Awards over the past decade.