NHS Wales: Doctor pay rise reliant on service cuts, says Morgan

A bigger pay rise for doctors can only be achieved by cutting NHS services, according to the Welsh health minister.

Eluned Morgan said it would be "incredibly difficult" to improve a 5% pay offer that was rejected by the doctors' union this month.

The British Medical Association (BMA) Wales will ballot members on industrial action after negotiations broke down.

The BMA said it was the "worst offer in the UK", but Ms Morgan said the Welsh government "don't have the money".

The offer would have covered consultants, junior doctors, and specialist doctors on contracts dating back to 2008.

"If we were to try and find that money, it would mean deeper cuts than those already that we are looking at in terms of services that the public are offered at the moment," she told Radio Wales Breakfast.

Her department needed to make a big contribution to filling a black hole in the Welsh government's budget, she said.

When announcing the ballot of members last week, BMA Wales chairwoman Dr Iona Collins said the Welsh government had only offered "further pay erosion".

"If we accept an offer of 5%, we accept that more doctors than ever will leave NHS Wales due to uncompetitive pay."

Responding to Ms Morgan's comments on Thursday, Welsh Conservative health spokesman Russell George said Labour ministers should "scrap the costly vanity projects, cancel plans to expand the Senedd, U-turn on the 20mph blanket speed limit rollout and prioritise health spending" rather than cut NHS services.