Caving in to doctors over pay 'could cost £31billion a year'

CAVING in to resident doctors’ pay demands would unleash a wave of walkouts by other NHS staff seeking the same — and it could cost £31billion a year, government insiders warn.

- By Lucy Johnston SOCIAL AFFAIRS EDITOR

CAVING in to resident doctors’ pay demands would unleash a wave of walkouts by other NHS staff seeking the same — and it could cost £31billion a year, government insiders warn.

Awarding the 29% rise sought by the British Medical Association would lead to immediate calls for parity from nurses and midwives to paramedics and porters.

A senior Whitehall source said that according to officials, the bill would be “equivalent to one-fifth of the NHS’s total budget”.

They said that to find this money the Department of Health “would have to scrap the entire budget for GPs, ambulances, mental health and dentistry”.

‘Budget for GPs and ambulances scrapped’

They added: “Alternatively, the Government would have to abolish the entire Department for Transport to cover the cost, which would mean scrapping Network Rail, bus fare subsidies, all aviation and maritime safety and road maintenance.”