Junior doctor near tears as she tells James O’Brien she's 'really close to leaving' her job

13 March 2023, 14:33

Junior Doctor’s voice breaks as she tells James O’Brien ‘I’m close to the edge’

A&E registrar 'Liv' tells James O'Brien that "the light at the end of the tunnel is gone" and she's now considering leaving the profession.

Detailing her experience of working as a registrar in A&E, caller Liv recalled a recent shift, telling James O’Brien that she spent “an hour running around the department” in order to find a bed for “an elderly man to die in” after he had spent the night bedless in a corridor.

This conversation comes as British Medical Association (BMA) members walk out today for 72 hours over pay.

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Leaders of the BMA have said that a newly-qualified junior doctor earns around £14.09-per-hour, less than what baristas at the coffee-shop chain Pret A Manger are remunerated.

The union said: "Pret a Manger has announced it will pay up to £14.10 per hour. A junior doctor makes just £14.09.

“Thanks to this government you can make more serving coffee than saving patients. This week junior doctors will take strike action so they are paid what they are worth”.

Expressing her despair at the working conditions junior doctors are enduring, Liv told James how the “light at the end of the tunnel had gone” and conditions have forced many to reconsider their career path.

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The Government has accused the union of distorting figures and not considering the pay progress available to medics.

They said, "The most experienced junior doctors now have a higher pay band – meaning they received a cumulative increase of 24% over four years.

​​"We’ve also increased rates of pay for night shifts and created a permanent £1,000 allowance a year for junior doctors who work less than full time, on top of their usual pay.”

Liv who said she went into the profession because it “feels worthwhile” and wanted to “help people”, told James she feels frustrated at Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who now has the money to enact changes, yet “nothing has changed”.

Junior Doctors are the latest professionals to join in on the industrial strike action engulfing the UK this year, confirming it will be completing a 72-hour strike a week ago, with pay talks lacking progress.

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