HCSA – the hospital doctors’ union has issued the following statement in the wake of the Prime Minister’s announcement on medical pay.

Commenting, HCSA President Dr Naru Narayanan said:

“Instead of serious negotiation on doctors’ pay we’ve had a grandstanding PR stunt which remains scant on detail. The government has known the pay review body recommendations since May, but has been sitting on its detailed findings. This underlines why we are calling for root and branch reform of the system.

“What we do know is that this is in an imposed outcome with funding apparently coming from NHS cost-cutting. Slicing into health budgets is no way to resolve industrial action centred on staffing and retention, and overall a concern for patient care.

“Imposing it in this like-it-or-lump-it way is also a total mis-reading of the mood on the ground. The petulant refusal to negotiate we’ve heard from the Prime Minister today won’t help at all and betrays a level of immaturity at the heart of government.

“There is a way to resolve industrial action by doctors, but that’s going to require serious discussion and acknowledgement of the central issue, which is over a decade of real-terms pay cuts. Without this it’s highly doubtful we’ll see an end to strikes.”
ENDS