@mumsneedwine and others who repeat it:
Will someone please break down the hospital porter salary claim for me? I just don’t see it, so correct my data:
The NHS website informs me that hospital porters are on Grade 2 and Grade 3. The latter are experienced, with salaries of £30K reserved for Team Leaders and such. It is wrong to assume all porters are on this salary, but we can generously assume a salary of £28K on average for a 37.5 hr week. That’s a bit higher than what published data says.
They work 45 weeks/year, for a total of 1687.5 hrs, giving an hourly rate of £16.59.
*The contract for resident doctors since 2016 states that they for an average 40 hour week and that overtime must be paid.
Since late 2025 overtime can be submitted directly to HR to minimise tensions and conflicts of interest.
So we must assume a 40 hr average week and take up separately the question of whether the contract is being honoured. *
Assume an F1 doctor is on a 40 hour week. They work the same 45 weeks. So, an extra 2.5 hours/week x 45 weeks, a total of 1800 hours. Without assuming any enhancements for unsociable hours, the hourly pay rate is
£38,831/1800 = £21.57.
Please explain how 16.59 > 21.57?
If we assume a 44 hour work week, which has been claimed on this thread but which I cannot find in writing, the unenhanced F1 pay still wins.
I think that whoever began publicising this appalling piece of false data may have used the top porter salary in a hospital. That’s likely to be a very responsible supervisory position of a higher band involving supervision of hundreds of people. Of course that person makes more.
For the allegedly egalitarian BMJ to appeal to people’s snobbishness on this count without doing basic arithmetic was shocking.
And no, @mumsneedwine , never once have I claimed to be a medical doctor. I would not consider this particularly desirable. Perhaps you are confusing me with someone else.