Will there be a mass exodus of doctors?
As far as I remember, doctors’ salaries were bumped up a few years ago because it was shown that they could earn so much more abroad that more and more were emigrating, so it was agreed that higher salaries were the only way to retain and attract doctors here.
However, now that the pound has fallen dramatically against most other currencies, I presume this means that their salaries are again far too low compared to other countries.
So should their salaries be increased by 30% or so?
Given how much more a medical doctor already earns than most other people with equivalent education levels, that would be hard to swallow for most people.
And indeed the Treasury recently announced a pay freeze for GPs and other senior medical staff, so they’re clearly not seeing any need to keep doctors here at the moment – perhaps they’re hoping they’ll all emigrate so that the cost of the NHS will come down?