Healthcare Republic reports on Wednesday that ‘it may be hard for whichever party is in government after the election to keep the lid on public sector pay’, according to research organisation the Labour Research Department.

This is, in a nutshell, because of the combination of recent private sector pay rises and increases in inflation.

The research is perhaps welcome and surprising. You’ll remember that the Conservatives are proposing public sector pay freezes, there’ll be no more than a 1% maximum over two years under Labour, while the Lib Dems have been curiously specific in budgeting for a no-more-than-£400 rise over the next two years.

No wonder then that Bank of England governor Mervyn King was arguing that Thursday’s election victor will actually be out of power for the next generation because of the unpopularity of the austerity measures it will be forced to introduce. Whatever Thursday’s election result, the battle lines look set to be drawn immediately afterwards between ministers keen to restrict pay and unions intent on inflationary awards. 

It is against this background that we also report on Wednesday that RCGP chairman Professor Steve Field has urged the profession to ‘grow up’ and stop expecting more resources.

He explains that GPs need to be ‘braver’ in trying to improve quality, ‘instead of listening to the [BBC's] Today programme and hearing GPs saying “we need more money to improve services”.’

Is this realistic? What do you think about what Professor Field has said? He certainly seems somewhat fearless to set himself against the BMA and its campaign against cuts.