Government's NHS pay review body excuse looks flimsier by the day - The Yorkshire Post says

But the one fig leaf that the Government has repeatedly turned to has been the recommendations of the pay review bodies.

The Prime Minister, towards the end of last year, even suggested that politicians should not “cut across” the independent pay review process to boost salaries for nurses and paramedics.

Yet the chair of the NHS pay review body, Philippa Hird told a Commons Committee that the Department of Health and Social Care still hasn’t submitted evidence ahead of the next pay round beginning in April.

Astonishingly, the deadline for which was January 11. It even left committee chair and Conservative MP Steve Brine surprised.

The accusation that the Government has been hiding behind pay review board recommendations in its stand off with healthcare workers is ringing truer by the day.

The Health Secretary’s more placatory tone was welcome but this shows that his department has been devoid of leadership.

Why would the Department of Health risk angering healthcare workers further by missing a deadline for evidence for the 2023-24 pay round by 21 days?

In case Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, hasn’t noticed, hospitals in England cancelled 88,000 appointments in seven weeks due to strikes.

The sooner the Government stops treating this as any other industrial dispute the better. As it is the most vulnerable who suffer as a result of inaction and obfuscation.

A lack of decent pay exacerbates the recruitment and retention issues that are blighting the NHS.