My payslip as a doctor in Feb 2021 during COVID

[Juniordoc]

See attached image. Yes this is for full-time work with weekends and nights in the currently stretched working conditions that the NHS provides.

This does not include the expenses and sacrifices of a six year medical degree. On top of that, we have to pay out of pocket for our own GMC membership, medical defence union, postgrad exams and revision courses, conferences and courses.

Please get behind us and support the strikes. We are burnout, exhausted and struggling to live

Would like to see current wage slip. You've given the figures but why not show the wage slip?

Totally think you should be paid more than you are , I couldn’t do it and thank for there are people out there like you but genuinely where do we stop within the care profession of paying

Genuine question and I know
Covid
must have been horrendous to work through but you obviously wanted to be a junior dr before this and must have known the salary/ pressure this kind of job brings and you knew. the salary - why do it ?

Nothing to say beyond that you have my support (having had yours when I've needed it).

Hugely grateful for you and your colleagues and a pay rise and more importantly better conditions definitely gets my support…

However…

…surely you were aware of the other pitfalls you mention (eg having to uproot for work) before you joined the medical profession?

How much does your employer contribute to your pension?

100% behind you and I earn more for 8am to 5pm hybrid role without weekend work. It's shocking how badly you're paid for such a responsible job involving life and death decisions.

I had a debate (polite term) with idiots online who compared doctors to apprentices .... and another who compared them to (junior) pharmacists
amongst other comments I made (essay) I pointed out most pharmacists don't do shifts... God some people are ignorant!
I appreciate what you do - I hope you (a)get your increase (b) its fully funded (c) the government properly funds the NHS and doesn't continue its push to privatisation.

And your point is?

What on earth is your main representative doing going on holiday this week? Is he even available to negotiate? Did he take annual leave when his colleagues are striking?

You will find support dwindling from every sector including your senior colleagues if you don't adopt a more realistic expectation for a pay raise. You can't keep doing this, either. This strike was timed to cause maximum disruption. Regardless of the strength of your argument, that's a reckless choice and I'm concerned that you seem to have every intention of continuing with this stance.

I have huge sympathy but a pay raise is a very small part of what you need. There is actually no money that could fix your working conditions which are harming patients as much as they are harming you. Nor are you the only ones struggling greatly in the NHS yet you are the only ones taking a militant and reckless position that is impossible to get behind for long.

It is not a myth that your pension is excellent, you have got a gold standard education for much less than elsewhere in the world and your opportunities to earn well will quickly increase.

I appreciate what everyone did during Covid. It's the nature of your job that you would be at risk during a pandemic along with many other colleagues in different professions.

If you want to succeed, stop behaving like you're 26 and come back prepared to accept something that it's possible to give.

That would be a good comparison. See the difference after 2 years and also if you could say the pension contributions the NHS provides.

Hi there appreciate your comment. And the truthful answer is we are not aware of the pitfalls to the full extent.
We apply when we are 17 in school. Worked hard, get decent grades, go through 6 years uni. None of these things are ever made apparent to us at all. Maybe also we're too young and naive at that stage to realise the realities. We go in thinking we want to do a good job, serve the public etc. We also naively think we will be treated well although we accept it won't be easy. But at that age we just underestimate everything. The job and conditions are so much harder than anything you can imagine being 17 especially the way the NHS is going.
If they discouraged everyone from going into medicine at that age, there would be no doctors.

Unfortunately not, doctors are leaving (the main countries are NZ, Australia and Canada) causing a brain drain. I fear for the NHS what it will look like in 10 years from now

This.

@Juniordoc FY1 and FY2 doctors are not fully qualified in the sense that you are still in training and fully supervised. FY1&2 are key components in the UK medical education curriculum and the content is required to meet educational standards set out by the GMC. FY1&2 doctors have provisional registration for this reason and cannot work as a doctor in any role, only NHS roles that are supervised and fit the necessary criteria. A fully qualified doctor has no restrictions on their registration and can work in any role an employer deems their experience is suitable to appoint them to.

The foundation stage should absolutely be considered as different and not fully qualified. You are still in training.

I support you 100%.

Some of the people commenting on this thread, honestly, are you listening to yourselves?

Hi there,
You are fully registered at the end of F1.
However as an F1, on nights you will be the one frequently restarting someones heart during a cardiac arrest, you are often the first port of call to sick, unwell patients. You are prescribing drugs and medication, you are making clinical decisions during unsociable hours etc

I get £1672 just working in a fucking warehouse...no wonder going medics are all leaving the country.

*young, not going

Thank you OP. I fully support your strikes. DH was a GP until he left last year having worked in full time General Practice for 30 years and reaching the epic pay level of £3000 a month net.
We have actively encouraged our DC to not go into medicine sadly. The level of debt is insane and the pressure on doctors is frightening. We sadly lost 2 friends as house officers when they took their lives fuelled by sleep deprivation, stress and no support. As a country our healthcare system is screwed.

It's a disgraceful wage for your job, obviously.

I also worked on covid wards throughout that time as a 3 years qualified nurse and I earned almost twice as much. I don't work in the UK though.

Thank you for all that you do. Fully support the strikes and hope you get a fair deal!

You work ungodly hours to save our lives! I earned more than this my first year out of uni, and my field of work is probably nowhere near as stressful.

The dinosaurs saying ‘this is a fair wage for training’ clearly don’t appreciate that doctor and nurse training isn’t the same as learning how to use Excel, which was basically my first year of work.

It's ridiculous op. Leave and work abroad if you can possibly manage it. This country doesn't deserve you

MPs don’t give themselves pay rises.

I pay care staff more than that and, although an extremely necessary role, they are nowhere near the knowledge or responsibility of a junior doctor.

If the training was actually given it wouldn't be so bad, but the NHS is so understaffed Junior Docs are under huge pressure with far more responsibility than they should have at that stage of their career.

I also agree that 35% is pie in the sky and the comments I have heard on the radio today that Barclay hasn't come to the negotiating table doesn't surprise me as the %age that will be agreed is too far away from 35%. There needs to be a plan to get to the desired hourly pay but it needs to be in stages. Both parties are being unreasonable and if it carries on and affects people's lives more, the strikes will fail. However then we will find even more doctors leaving our shores and be in a bigger pickle than we are now. Barclay needs to bend before the NHS fails completely.

im behind you op! You deserve better xx

I’m genuinely shocked junior doctors earn so little, that’s disgusting. You work hard and deserve so much better.