NHS Wales boss says 'there is no more money' amid winter pressures and junior doctors strikes
ITV Wales National Correspondent Rob Osborne reports
The boss of NHS Wales says "there is no more money" as they gear up for the new year and another round of strikes.
As industrial action is scheduled to start on 15 January, Judith Paget said although she sympathised with those on strike, there wasn't any more they could do.
"Junior doctors are genuinely unhappy with their salary and they're disappointed with the pay award that we have offered, but it is at the limits of what we can afford," she said.
"I can understand their disappointment and I can understand their concern, but unfortunately without additional investment there is just no alternative."
The strike is set to last 72 hours, on top of the usual winter pressures the NHS faces, and could see more than 3,000 withdraw their labour from GP surgeries and hospitals.
It follows the Welsh Government's recent offer to increase pay by 5%, but unions say pay has now been cut by 29.6% in real terms (RPI) since 2008/09.
A huge majority of junior doctors voted in favour of strike action for pay restoration with 65% of doctors in Wales voting and 98% backing a walkout.
"It's going to be a busy couple of weeks, it'll be hugely pressurised," said Ms Paget.
The NHS budget did increase at the last Welsh Government draft budget, but even with that money it's facing cuts to services.
Ms Paget said the NHS will still have to make "substantive savings" this year "to make sure that we use the money we've been given as wisely as possible".
Despite that, she acknowledged that staff had worked "really hard" to keep up with demand over an "incredibly busy" Christmas and New Year.
"The system is coping reasonably well," she added, "But there's always more that we can do."
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