Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:46 pm on 25 September 2018.
Leader of the house, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services published a written statement on 25 September concerning the doctors and dentists review body and their pay recommendations. Whilst it was good news to see that there's going to be an increase across this portion of the NHS and that, also, I was delighted to read the written statement, I do believe that we need a full oral statement from the Cabinet Secretary on this matter. There are potential effects on agency and locum spend. There are question marks also to understand and get to grips with in terms of specialist and associate specialist staff. And I'd also like to understand how the Cabinet Secretary for health flexed his figures so that, when he says that this deal goes beyond what was agreed for doctors and dentists over the border—and by which I assume he's referring to England—you know, as we know, in England, they made a statement in June and July of this year of a 2 per cent base increase for salaried doctors and dentists, salaried general medical practitioners, and independent contractor GMPs and general dental practitioners, which is exactly the same as the figures here. So, I'd like to have a really clear understanding of what the Cabinet Secretary is saying, and I think it would be very useful for us to be able to flesh this out so that we are all singing off the same hymn sheet.