Government incompetence causes GP salary saga

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 19th Jan 2007

Moves to cap massive GP salary rises are due to bad government planning, according to Welsh Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson Jenny Randerson AM.

"GP salaries are just another example of Government incompetence in the NHS. Ministers claimed they couldn't anticipate GPs would meet government incentives to this degree, which is bad planning.

"The Government mishandled changes to the Oxygen contract, leaving many people short of vital supplies. They mishandled Agenda for Change, the new NHS pay structure, and now they have mishandled the way investment is directed at GPs.

"Costly government planning mistakes mean that the first thing to suffer is patient care, where less money is being invested.

"Of course nobody denies that we should fully reward doctors and nurses for all their hard work, but I want to see the emphasis on investing in patient care, and better financial planning for the future of the NHS."

Ends/Diwedd

Marie Concannon

Caseworker for Michael German AM

Press Assistant to the Welsh Liberal Democrat Group

National Assembly for Wales

02920 898426