Health Workers Face Tough Pay Limits
The Health Secretary, Frank Dobson, has warned doctors and nurses that he will be tough on public sector pay, saying there wasn't enough money to pay for big increases.
But Mr Dobson insisted there was a "good mood" in the health service because of the reforms the Government was planning, and he did not expect staff to be pressing for large salary hikes.
"I think there is a change in mood in the National Health Service in the people who work in it, and I think that we will have at least for a time some good feelings from them," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"And they will not be pressing us for huge pay increases that they know the government and the taxpayer cannot at the moment afford," he insisted.
Mr Dobson also confirmed that the Government would scrap the NHS internal market introduced by the Conservatives.
"What we've got to have is a system where the treatment goes to those who clinically need it first," he said. "We will have a commissioning system which will not be based on one group of GPs getting privileges over another group of GPs."
"So in effect there will be a common waiting list, not either two waiting lists or three or four waiting lists with people being chosen for treatment not because they are the people who need it most, or need it most urgently, but because they are coming from a particular GP or group of GPs," explained Mr Dobson.
Criticism Over Spending Plans
The Health Secretary also fended off criticism that Labour was not pledging any significant increase in NHS spending. The Government plans to save £100 million by reducing NHS red tape. This is only equivalent to one day's spending on the health service.
But Mr Dobson said this was only a start, and was quite a large sum which could make a difference if it was targeted properly.
"We are saying that within the overall budget of the Department of Health we believe that there are savings that can be made that can be transferred to patient care," he said.
"I am confident of that. The senior officials of the National Health Service tell me that they can make substantial savings this year and even bigger savings as we change the whole inefficient system of running things," he added.
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