Monday, 10 May 2021, 10:50 am
What has a pay freeze got to do with a universal public
health system? Actually quite a lot. Health systems,
especially public hospitals which handle the more complex
and urgent cases that the rest of the system can’t fix,
are by their very nature labour intensive. Overwhelmingly
delayed or denied access to public hospitals are due to
workforce shortages of at least one occupational
group.
To the extent that pay impacts on workforce
morale, retention or recruitment it also impacts on the
accessibility, quality and effectiveness of a health system.
This is no more the case than for medical