Junior Doctor's Passionate Defence

12 February 2016, 09:43 | Updated: 9 August 2016, 10:03

This junior doctor gave a passionate tour de force on why the Junior Doctors' strike is not just about weekends.

Dr Lauren Gavaghan's blistering speech on James O'Brien's show has gone viral with over 750,000 people watching it.

She insists that the Junior Doctors dispute is not just about being forced to work weekends, but is vital for everyone in the UK.

She said: "This is not about just Junior Doctors. In my opinion, this is about a much wider political picture. We have to take into account the socio-political climate here.  

"The NHS is 2012 with the Health and Social Care Act was actually devolved. The government was devolved of responsibility for it. The public don't know that at all.

"What the government are trying to do with this whole bringing care to weekends is not to increase emergency care, because we do that of course already.

"What they are trying to do is introduce elective non-urgent clinics into weekends. What that means is that when the NHS is sold off into private hands, which is no secret - the whole of Wiltshire Childrens Services has just been sold off to Virgin, the whole of Devon has just been sold off to Virgin, Sittingbourne in Kent just recently has been sold off.

"Let's face the facts. When the NHS is being sold off, private companies do not want our complex, long-term physical or mental health patients.

"What they want is lovely little elective, non-urgent clinics which are now in the weekends and they can buy off.

"That's what this is all about. I think to not take the bigger picture into account would be a mistake in my opinion."