Most people in Great Britain believe that new junior doctors, nurses and health care assistants are underpaid, senior doctors and matrons are paid about right,
and NHS CEOs are paid too much, according to a new study.
About half the people surveyed indicated that newly qualified junior doctors are paid too little, with this sentiment increasing to three in five (60 per cent) among
Labour voters.
The research conducted by the Policy Institute at King's College London, King's Business School, and Ipsos also showed that more people believe NHS staff overall were
badly paid than well paid.
Dr Nick Krachler, senior lecturer in Human Resource Management at King's Business School, said: "Our survey shows considerable alignment between public perception
of NHS pay levels and the claims of trade unions and professional associations that pay levels - which are determined by government after consultation from a Pay
Review Body - are unsatisfactory for frontline NHS roles."
He highlighted the urgent need to address healthcare workers' economic wellbeing, hoping that the new government will consider it in its upcoming negotiations with
junior doctors this week.
Almost nine in ten community pharmacists in England say they have patients who sometimes go without prescription medicines because they cannot afford the
prescription charge levied by the government.
Sixty-eight per cent of pharmacists in a National Pharmacy Association (NPA) survey, conducted via email in June 2022, said this has become more frequent in the
past year - suggesting that the rising cost of living could be leading more people to miss out on vital medicines.
While prescription charge does not apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in England an NHS patients needs to pay £9.35 per item. For patients who need
multiples medicines the cost could be exponential and virtually unaffordable amid rising inflation and higher cost of living.
The survey found that 89 per cent of pharmacies in England have patients who sometimes go without prescription medicines due to cost.
For most pharmacists (74 per cent) this happens one to five times a week. Fifteen per cent said they see such patients from six to 20 times a week.
