Consultants have secured a 20 per cent pay rise to put NHS patients first.

Under the terms of the new deal they will work an extra 90 minutes a week - but could earn up to £100,000 under a "golden handcuffs" arrangement expected to be implemented from April 1 next year.

Desperate to deliver on tough health pledges, Alan Milburn has backed down from a fight over controversial plans to ban consultants from working in the private sector for the first seven years of their careers - provoking the Conservative Shadow Health Spokesman, Dr Liam Fox, to say that the deal was "a complete and humiliating climbdown" for the government.

"The new contract is good news for NHS patients and for NHS consultants. It is a something for something deal," said Milburn."It offers more pay for NHS consultants so that more NHS patients benefit from more of their precious time and skills." The health secretary also detailed new restrictions on the amount of lucrative private practice work consultants can undertake.

Those with less than seven years experience must also work an extra four NHS hours a week.Commenting on the proposed contract package, Dr Peter Hawker, chairman of the BMA's consultants' committee, said that the NHS was "still getting a bargain".

"There is a good deal in prospect which is fair to consultants and fair to the NHS. Consultants are the most highly trained and experienced professionals in our hospitals with unique skills that need to be properly valued. The proposed boost to their salaries is long overdue," he said."Although the medical workforce is growing, it will be eight or nine years before we see a major expansion in the number of consultants and the current workforce is exhausted and nearing burn out. The new contract will offer consultants some control over their workload. It recognises just how much hidden work they do at nights and weekends and offers them a reward for that commitment. It will enable managers to plan services more effectively and to make best use of a finite resource, consultants' time."