FINANCIAL rewards for doctors who excel in their field have been around since the NHS was created in 1948.
Prior to the establishment of the Clinical Excellence Awards in 2005, a programme known as the Distinction Awards with a similar pay structure was in operation.
Since 2005 more than £80 million has been paid out in the “bonuses” to consultants in Northern Ireland.
The scheme is broken down into 12 awards. Step 1 is the lowest and worth £2,957 annually, while the highest has a value of £75,796 - three times the average nurse's salary.
There are currently more than 460 award holders in Northern Ireland, the majority of whom are among the north's 1,500 hospital consultants. GPs do not qualify.
The highest awards, valued at between £35,484 and £75,796, are funded by the Department of Health while the remainder - ranging from almost £3,000 to £29,570 - are paid by the north’s five cash-strapped health trusts.
Self-nomination is the only method of application. Consultants must have three years' experience before they apply.
A review of awards takes place every five years but most consultants, once selected, receive the money until they retire.
The bonuses were suspended to new applicants in 2010 due to the economic climate.
There was an outcry when former DUP health minister Edwin Poots announced in 2013 that they would be reintroduced but despite a new batch of applications being made, the department has never processed them.
A public consultation was launched and the BMA not only called for the immediate reinstatement of the awards but said they should be backdated.
Opponents raised concerns about the impact on NHS services as health trusts struggled to find the money.
In October 2015 DUP minister Simon Hamilton said no new awards would be made.
However, hundreds of consultants who were selected pre-2010 continue to be receive the bonuses.
