Government must confirm extra funding will be provided to lift NHS pay cap – Jonathan Ashworth

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s Shadow Health
Secretary, responding to Jeremy Hunt’s claim in the House of
Commons that the NHS pay cap has been lifted, said:

“The Secretary of State tells the Commons
the NHS pay cap’s been lifted but he cannot say whether this is going to come
from existing budgets or not. It looks like hospitals will be forced to cut
other services to find the funds.

“Jeremy Hunt is trying to face both ways on
NHS pay and it just means even more uncertainty. While the Government dithers,
staff continue to leave the NHS and patients continue to be at risk from short
staffed services. 

“There has still been no confirmation of
any of this from the Treasury. The Government need to immediately confirm that
extra funding will be provided to lift the NHS pay cap so that all staff can
benefit from a long overdue pay rise.”

Ends