Health departments call for pay restraint European manpower is predicted to even out Consultants want extra work recognised NHS patient care standards to be extended Audit centre launches action pack

Abstract

# Health departments call for pay restraint {#article-title-2} The health departments have told the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration that any pay increases must be offset by efficiency improvements and affordable within allocated resources for 1997–8. In their evidence for the 1997 review the departments say that doctors should play their part in restraining pay settlements to help the economy. They point out that inflation has been below 4% for three and a half years and that the government has set a target of 2.5% for 1997. The departments claim that the 1996 pay settlements were high compared with the rest of the public sector. They also say that recruitment and retention in the medical profession remain satisfactory and that where there are difficulties high pay increases in national pay will not help. The evidence does concede that there may be problems in maintaining an adequate level of general practice registrars. In its evidence the BMA said that doctors would need a pay rise of 53% to regain their 1980 earnings level (28 September, p 769). # European manpower is predicted to even out {#article-title-3} A new study on European medical manpower predicts that the demand for and the supply of doctors will move closer together by the year 2000. Five years ago the Permanent Working Group (PWG) of European Junior Hospital Doctors forecast a deficit by the end of the century even though there was serious medical unemployment in many member countries. The main purpose of the 1991 study was to establish a manpower database and to set up a 10 year prognosis on the likelihood …