Junior doctors take strike action. 20mph policy in Wales £34.4 million?
Commenting on the junior doctor strike action, Russell George MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister said:
“The people of Wales will share my frustration at the severe disruption caused by strike action in Labour-run Wales when we already have the longest waits for treatment in the UK.
“In Conservative-run England, junior doctors have been offered a pay rise over double that of Labour-run Wales’ – Labour have consistently put the worst offer in the UK on the table.
“The Welsh Conservatives would spend the full Barnett uplift received for health on health. Labour need to get round the table and at least match the independent pay review body recommendation, which Labour ministers have so far failed to.”
The estimated total cost of the 20mph policy in Wales is £34.4 million (to date). A Welsh Government impact assessment, published alongside the legislation which enabled Wales’ 20 mph speed limit, estimated the economic impact of the policy to be a “negative £4.54 billion” over 30 years
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Health Minister Eluned Morgan says she understands the strength of feeling and also supports the right to strike.
But she says the 5% pay increase is at the limits of what the Welsh government is able to offer.
“To think more can be offered is unrealistic,” she said previously.
“The only place we can go for more money is to cut it from other parts of the NHS and I’m not sure if the public would thank us for that.”
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