Next year's pay rises for doctors should be 2% or less, government says

Pay rises for doctors and other healthcare staff in Britain should not be above 2% next year, the government said last week.

The chancellor of the exchequer, Gordon Brown, used his pre-Budget report to urge restraint on pay increases so that inflation stays around 2%.

Mr Brown said that the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, would be asking for a 2% rise in her evidence to the various pay review bodies for NHS staff. Ms Hewitt is due to give oral evidence …