[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by Soldier Boy

You only need to take a look at the international pay standards (and no not just the US; other countries with socialised healthcare too) to see that both doctors and trained nurses in the UK are starting to lag way behind and the gap is increasing. So there are effectively two choices; we start paying these staff better, or we accept that the UK is not a first-world country capable of providing first-world healthcare.

And then exactly the same thing will happen as happens in developing nations; the staff who have any real skill/ability/talent pack their bags and move to countries that will pay them appropriately for their level of knowledge and skill, and we get left with the low-wage dregs.

Tories are already looking at shortening the length of healthcare education to funnel more staff through quicker. Competence levels will drop and people will die. There's no two ways about it.

Just pray you never get into a serious accident or develop a life-threatening or severe ongoing condition, I guess.

I wasn't making a case against their payrise at all. But it should be coupled with widespread changes as to how NHS money should be spent, with more priority given to front line staff.