Gareth Lyon

We are on the verge of yet another round of resident doctor strikes – the fifteenth in the dispute which has been running since 2023. Despite significant pay awards totalling over 30 per cent in recent years, there appears to be no end in sight in this dispute. Patients look set to suffer more avoidable harm and more disruption to their care. The cost of previous strikes to patients and to the NHS was significant. Policy Exchange estimated last year that the impact of the July strikes alone would be 250,000 missed appointments – and a possible 2 million appointments over the year.

This week’s budget will have a substantial impact on the NHS – just not in the way the Chancellor has talked about or may have hoped for. Starting with pay, the Chancellor has announced that from April the minimum wage will rise to £12.71 per hour for people over the age of 21. What the Chancellor seems to have forgotten is that in the NHS, many domestic support workers, housekeeping assistants, drivers, nursery assistants, security officers and some healthcare assistant and secretarial roles are currently paid lower than the proposed minimum wage increase. Unions estimated that at least 200,000 of these workers were impacted by the last increase of the minimum wage, and a similar number will likely be affected this time.