Should the government raise the salaries of NHS workers in order to reduce wait times?

No

Raising NHS salaries has no bearing on wait times, but they should have their salaries raised regardless

Raising pay won't reduce wait times only increasing staff numbers to avoid burnout and high turnover will help that.

It is not entirely around the salaries. We need to increase capacity as a whole with updated infrastructure, improved social programmes and a push to improve food quality intake.

The main problem is how overworked our doctors are. A good wage doesn't matter if you don't have a life to spend it on.

Invest in training and senior staff to run the nhs better. Too many inefficiencies in doctors surgery’s and hospitals are causing delays as well as non paying foreigners and over population.

How does increasing salaries reduce wait times. Need more staff so can they afford to increase wages and staff ?

No why would paying them more reduce wait times are they suddenly going to be more efficient in their job?

Salaries should increase but more importantly working conditions need to be improved to stop healthcare professionals leaving.

This question and answer are not relative to each other. We deserve a wage rise, reflective of our skill set - this does not, however, impact upon wait times. Staff strikes to campaign for fair pay does had minimal impact on wait times.

Wait times are impacted by budget cuts imposed by the Govt, closure and privatisation of health and care services.

No, focus on improving the working environment instead.

This would not work. There would still be the wait times

Higher salaries does not directly equate to lower wait times.

No, raising salaries won't magically reduce wait times.

No, salaries should have no effect on wait times.

Yes for those directly administering care and medical treatment, not for those in the top paid or administrative positions. There should also be more funding for those training in these jobs.

No, this strategy is unlikely to reduce waiting lists. Recruiting and retaining more staff should be the priority.

Yes- For front line staff only (nurses)

Yes, but not all NHS workers

How will that help? There needs to be more staff, they can't just magically work more because they have more money!

They should focus on raising the salaries of NHS workers near the bottom end of the scale, and give priority to cleaners and medical staff rather than administrative workers.

It would be far more beneficial to help increase the numbers of healthcare workers rather than the pay of a few. This would increase staff morale and retention, therefore creating a more favourable and manageable workplace.

No, Increased salaries do not reduce waiting times, more efficient processes and resources would

Do they deserve a raise yes, but I don’t think that will reduce waiting times. We need more staff, more beds and more funding.

No as it wouldn’t reduce waiting times. They should employ more staff.

No, the salaries are not the problem; it's the funding generally

No, It won't work like that and it suggests NHS workers are on a go-slow because of salaries. The role of the GP is almost irrelevant in modern times, replaced them with more specialists to reduce waiting times.

No, because I do not believe low wages are the cause of long NHS wait times.

Raise the wages but how will it solve wait times?

Wait times should be reduced by the itroduction of management who have a proven track record of efficiency boosting. All efficient NHS staff should be paid accordingly.

Yes, but that isn't the reason they need a pay rise

Yes for nurses and jr doctor not consultants

service seems to get worse no matter how much money you pour into it.

No, only when strikes occur.

possibly in certain disciplines with measured effectiveness

This will not reduce waiting times

More money doesn't necessarily mean greater productivity.

Not just in order to reduce wait times. They should be paid fairly - full stop.

No, that will not reduce wait times, just cut all money wasting on management layets and staff magazines etc and redirect it to hire more staff, that will actually reduce the wait times

Surely this isn’t going to solve the problem?

It’s not as simple as that

Encourage more staff to join, make it a more desirable job, support education systems/qualifications that support these roles

Yes, and middle managers and higher ups should have their pay cut to accommodate this in their relative institutions.

No. The government should invest in more facilities, better training, and more staff to reduce NHS wait times.

no, use the money to hire more NHS workers and imporve NHS facilities instead

People should be charged if they abuse the nhs services. Salaries should only be raised when the country is in a financial stable situation

Yes, but leaders of NHS trusts that fail to meet high standards, shouldn't receive bonuses, and if they're performing really badly, their pay should be cut

Yes and allocate funding based on demand to create additional job openings to reduce backlog of patients on waiting lists.

No, consistent raising of NHS workers pay almost yearly has caused more strikes and higher wait times

Yes, offer better pay, but more importantly, improve infrastructure and hire more medical professionals.

The government should reduce waiting times but raising the salaries of NHS workers doesn't have to be raised

Increasing salaries would not have an impact on waiting times. This should come from further NHS funding

Yes but only if this is costed and money can be saved elsewhere, potentially from the partial privatisation of the NHS

They should ensure that the salaries of healthcare staff are proportional to that of other public sectors

The recruitment and retention of NHS workers is not just related to pay; improvement of working conditions should also be an objective.

To reduce wait times, the government needs to remove the middle Managment of the NHS, hand it back to the Doctors and dismantle the BMA

The issue isn't the salaries of NHS workers, the issue is a shortage of funding for key NHS services and Quangos that eat up too many funds while not providing an important service.

Raise salaries if it can be afforded. However there are far more effective ways to reduce wait times. Lower mass immigration for example.

Increasing salaries won't reduce wait time. Hiring more people, or giving incentive to work in NHS would.

The salaries of NHS workers should increase, or be in-line with inflation, but raising salaries won't reduce wait times.

NHS worker salaries should rise to, at the very least, match inflation. Not to decrease wait times but because everyone should have the same.

Invest that money in building programs which make becoming a doctor or nurse more accessible, giving people a higher chance of attaining them

Not for the reasons of reducing wait times because we are so overpopulated as a nation that wait times would still be longer. Should be raised because of how hard they work and how little they get paid for keeping people alive.

Yes but there should also be a tackling of hiring more nurses alongside this with a look at how we can better train others

No. We should move to a Singapore-style health care system and offer tax incentives for firms to offer more private care and thus wage competition.

Yes but to reflect their experience, qualifications and critical service rather than just to reduce wait times

Increase salaries if that helps to attract more staff. Increasing salaries alone won't directly impact waiting lists. Additional resources would help though.

Jobs need to become available to UK nationals who train in the UK, and decrease the amount of staff coming from overseas

More incentives of working for the nhs better organisation of company so less staff turnover. More staff

Yes they should raise the salary but not to reduce wait times, because NHS workers deserve it. But the pay rises should be merit based, target driven and performance based such as bedside manner.

right action, wrong reason; the nhs workers should be paid more for every patient they treat, help or support

The raising of salaries across the NHS is not the solution to the issue of wait time. There needs to be improvement in operational efficiency and a cultural change across the NHS.

They should be paid a price that is competitive to the world market so that they don't feel the need to be employed elsewhere. They should also reduce the salaries for agency workers so that this is not an attractive option either, and a drain on NHS financial resources.

They need to pay a fair wage and attract new doctors and nurses to fill the short fall, also better facilities

Yes but not for top doctors. NHS pay should not be so widely different between highest and lowest earners

No, go back to when nurses didn't need to go to uni and did training on the job , U would get more nurses, we have carers now instead of nurses

I do not think this will solve the problem. They are unpaid for the work they do but it will take more than raising salaries.

Loaded question. Yes they should be paid appropriately, but there are only so many hours in the day. More staff is what is needed.

How will this resolve the problem we have too many people in this country, it's obvious waiting times will never be reduced.

NHS salaries should be increased and an end to agency workers should be implemented. Fair pay to the NHS, might give staff an incentive to stay.

Yes, but conditionally on providing equitably allocated rotas which operate 365 days a year and consider each day with equal value. No ‘weekends’ - just days.

I don't understand how this is supposed to work? NHS staff should absolutely be paid more, but most of them do not have enough hours in the day and are already burnout, I'm unsure how this is supposed to change that?

An increase of wages would not increase productivity and if it did that would mean the workers should be disciplined! Increased wages should only incentivise recruitment and retention of staff

I don’t think the two things directly correlate. Salaries have nothing to do with the number of staff and appointment available in the first place

Reduce executives salaries to free up funds to pay staff/increase staffing in NHS. All should pay in including people on benefits

Yes, but only for frontline staff, such as doctors, nurses, etc. Reduce the money going to management.

Raising salaries wont necessarily reduce wait times. We should focus on incentivising working for the NHS

Raising salaries wont reduce wait times, hire more doctors/nurses. Or prioritise citizens and the most in need first.

No, because it won’t make any difference. It will encourage more part/time GPs and give credence to the BMA who are really striking for political reasons

Yes, but the twisted and sick culture within the NHS also needs to be addressed. Focusing on fixing the environment and attitudes is the most important thing.

Only at lower income levels for example nurses. Consultants already have too much autonomy and control over the system with question.

People train to work in the NHS knowing the pay and long hours beforehand, don’t work in that sector if you don’t do the job for the love of helping people. I do however think they need more positive incentives to entice more young people to want to work in the NHS, so a pay increase could be the answer but based on hours worked, so longer hours, a higher pay bracket

The question implies that NHS workers will work harder if they earn more. I would suggest raising their salaries AND recruiting new staff

Salaries should rise with inflation as a minimum across all sectors by law. The NHS requires more funding not increasing the salaries of workers.

No, because I don't believe increasing wages would result in lower wait times. However, the wages should be increased.

When NHS employees complain, they don’t have to work there! I know it’s harsh but they can work in other companies!

No - How does a higher salary equate to lower wait times. Fund more health care professionals instead

No - Increasing wages won't reduce wait times. If people are over worked paying them more won't fix the issue of being over worked

Working practices, resourcing and salaries all need to be reviewed. Frontline service providers are often under paid and over worked. Admin and financial roles should be made more efficient and reduced consistent with lower levels of bureaucracy. Junior doctors do not deserve further pay rises.