Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, has acknowledged that NHS staff may earn more in the private sector but believes they will be willing to work overtime to help tackle the increasing waiting lists. Labour has announced plans to pay doctors and nurses for overtime work in an effort to provide an additional 2 million operations, scans, and appointments in the first year if they win the next general election. As of July, a record 7.68 million people were waiting for hospital appointments.
The NHS has been struggling with waiting lists for over a decade due to factors such as an aging population and budget cuts. The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated the backlogs, and strikes by healthcare workers have prolonged the issue. Labour’s plan aims to address this by allowing patients to travel for appointments in the evenings or weekends.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting assured that the overtime work would be voluntary and that staff would not be forced into it. He highlighted that the plan is based on successful approaches already implemented in some London hospitals and emphasized the need to reduce waiting lists.
Sir Keir Starmer stated that doctors may earn more in the private sector but expect them to choose NHS work because they want to bring down the waiting list and reduce pressure in the long run. However, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) chief nurse Nicola Ranger highlighted that nursing staff often work unpaid overtime and called for a change in this culture. The RCN and the British Medical Association (BMA) have both stressed the importance of paying healthcare workers properly for overtime and addressing the recruitment and retention crisis in the NHS.
Labour’s plan to invest in the NHS workforce comes as shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves reaffirms the party’s commitment to fiscal responsibility and spending within means.