Private providers see surge in demand as PM blames long NHS waiting lists on strikes
BMJ 2023; 382 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p2126 (Published 18 September 2023) Cite this as: BMJ 2023;382:p2126
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Dear Editor
The harsh reality is that the government cannot afford to award the striking doctors the pay increases they are demanding.
The following are some of the reasons why the money is forthcoming:-
(i) The furlough scheme that was initiated to mitigate the impact of COVID 19 must have cost a lot of money, probably borrowed money which has to be repaid with interest.
(ii) The financial impact of Brexit.
(iii)The war in Ukraine with the associated burden of supplying arm to Ukraine. This has been compounded by the financial impact of the energy crisis resulting from the imposition of sanctions on Russia.
(iv) The financial impact of the doctors' strike. "Some hospital trusts are reported to have paid millions in wages for cover with costs around three times what they save in wages from the striking junior doctors ". One consultant was paind £3,000.00 to cover a 12 .5 hour junior doctor night shift.[1].
Whatever the outcome of the strike, be it an award of a 35% pay increase or a reaffirmation of the 6% pay increase, the NHS(and the country) will be reduced to a state of near bankruptcy. An inevitable consequence of that eventual state of near bankruptcy will be further cuts in spending on public services, including the NHS..
The mistake that has been made in the past is to attribute cuts in public spending(code name for austerity) to the ideological stance of the party in power. An alternative view point is that cuts on public spending(ie austerity) are a by product of inappropriately low taxation. Inappropriately low tax rates are, in turn, attributable to the fact that the electorate will never vote into power a political party that promises to increase taxation so as to fund public services. Consequently, each time we vote into power a political party that promises to reduce the tax burden(even to an inappropriately low degree) we initiate a downward spiral of reduced spending on public services(ie so-called austerity).
In conclusion, we should not be surprised when the award of a 35% pay increase to striking doctors is followed by massive cuts in spending on public services(ie deepening austerity)
References
[1]Dex R
Doctor paid £3,000.to work shift as historic joint strike hits NHS
Evening Satandard 20th September 2023
Competing interests: No competing interests
Re: Private providers see surge in demand as PM blames long NHS waiting lists on strikes
Dear Editor
I wish to make a correction to the text in my recent Rapid Response under the above title:-
The sentence which reads as follows:-
"The following are the reasons why the money is forthcoming"
ought to read as follows:-
"The following are the reasons why the money is not forthcoming"
I apologise for the error
Competing interests: No competing interests