A doctor has shared a payslip from 2000, which shows how little pay has risen in the past 20 years.
Medics across the country have gone on strike over wages, demanding an increase of 35 percent to meet the shortfall.
As a result, approximately 350,000 appointments, including planned operations, are expected to be cancelled.
Advert
And over the past few days, stories have come out from junior doctors who are struggling to make ends meet.
Exasperated by the situation, some have taken to social media in a bid to show people just how bad things are.
One such doctor, Dean, shared a picture of the NHS payslip he received 'right at the very end of [his] second year as a doctor', which fell in July 2022.
Before tax, he earned £2,834, which equates to around £34,000. But once tax, his pension, and his student loans were factored in, the doctor had a takehome pay of £1,823.50, and his outgoings didn't stop there.
Advert
Following up his tweet, Dean claimed: "This is the same month I paid £565 for exams that at the time gave me extra points for application. But after sitting exams and passing both, the college decided to remove the extra points.
"I receive no reimbursement for these, despite the fact they are compulsory fir [sic] progression."
But while this might be shocking, it appears that things really haven't changed much in recent years.
Replying to Dean's post, a fellow doctor posted a picture of his payslip from 2000, which shows how little pay has increased for junior doctors in that time.
Rob Dineen's photo shows that before tax he was paid £2,593.59, which is equivalent to approximately £31,123 a year.
Advert
However, after tax and other deductions, Rob was coming out with £1,821.52.
Sharing the pic, he wrote: "And here is my payslip from July 2000 when I, like @Dr_DeanS, was at the end of my second year as a doctor. 22 years later and the take home pay has gone up by... £1.98.
"Dean, you and your fellow strikers have my full support."
Responding to the tweet, other doctors expressed their outrage.
Advert
One wrote: "Wow. I have been making a similar comparison with my FY1 payslip from 9 years ago…. But this really is stark.
"Especially when you throw in the massive student debt that most of the current cohort are saddled with."
To which Rob replied: "This is true. The debt that I and most of my contemporaries had at that stage is nothing like the huge debt burden for many recently qualified doctors now. And the property/rental market is a whole different world... "
Despite the obvious inconveniences caused as a result of the strikes, the British Medical Association (BMA) stands firm that the doctors deserve better pay.
The strikes will last until this Saturday (15 April).
Dominic Smithers