Prime Minister David Cameron’s commitment to transforming health services and making England the first country in the world to deliver a truly seven day NHS, coupled with the Governments drive, could well find nurses going on a strike if payments received for working anti-social hours and weekends come under threat.

From August 01, 2017, nursing and allied health students will no longer have access to NHS bursary. They will instead have to access the standard student support system for their tuition and living fees; in other words, take a loan just like any other student undergoing university studies.

The replacement of NHS bursaries by loans for nursing and allied health professional students was announced by Chancellor George Osborne in November 2015. Starting August 01, 2017, new nursing and allied health students will have to access the standard student support system to cover their tuition fees and means-tested support for living costs. Repayment of this loan will be similar to those taken by other student loans taken for university studies. Currently, once a graduate starts earning over £21,000, the loan repayment starts - amounting to 9% of income over £21,000. In case the income drops below £21,000, the repayment process stops. This continues for 30 years, after which, in case of any outstanding amount, the same is written off.

Announced by the chancellor, George Osborne, at his summer budget last year, the national minimum wage new rates for 2016 have been increased by 50p more than the previous year’s rate.

Dr. Richard Harris looked around his clinic with despair and anguish in his eyes. After standing there for a few minutes, he walked back slowly to his chamber. When I walked into his chamber, I saw Dr. Harris sitting with slumped shoulders, hands on his head, staring into space. He has been my family doctor for the last thirty years and I have never seen him looking so low. I was worried and on my asking, he said that he might have to shut down the clinic. “The practice is good; in fact I have more patients now than ever before, but no staff to look after them”, he added. A dedicated professional, Dr. Harris has been an upright and loved member of our community. It was extremely distressing to see him in this state. Members of the community even volunteered to help out at the clinic, but to no avail. Last week, Dr. Harris closed his clinic doors for the last time. What has gone wrong with our healthcare system? Why are dedicated and established physicians downing their shutters or reducing the number of patients that they can see? Where are the healthcare workers?

Is this a case of too little after too long? Accepting recommendations from the NHS Pay Review Body, the government has announced a 1% pay raise for all NHS staff on the Agenda for Change pay bands. Calling their recommendation ‘informed but not constrained’, the PRB seems to be following Chancellor George Osborne’s intention of restricting pay rises for all public sector workers in England to a maximum of 1% for the next four years. The PRB accepts that all NHS providers are under financial pressure and that some form of pay restraints is thus inevitable.