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.

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.

In a statement BMA Cymru Wales said the Welsh Government will cause "significant harm" if it continues to undervalue doctors.

"The reality is that doctors are leaving Wales to work in better conditions and for pay that adequately remunerates their lifesaving work. There are junior doctors in Wales caring for patients for as little as £13 an hour.

"Surely the nation's health should come at the very top of any government's agenda and it's hugely disappointing to see such a divisive narrative."