Nearly half (45.3%) of junior doctors have struggled to afford their rent or mortgage and half (50.8%) have had difficulty paying to heat and light their homes in the past year, the BMA has warned.
These are findings from a survey of more than 4,500 junior doctors, which also showed they are cutting back on buying food and regularly borrowing money from family and friends to help make ends meet.
The survey findings were revealed as the doctors’ union prepares for a ballot of junior doctors on industrial action over pay, which will open on Monday 9 January.
They survey showed that:
- Three in ten (29.8%) junior doctors have used their overdraft for consecutive months to pay bills and a similar number (27.7%) say they have not repaid their credit card borrowing for consecutive months.
- Around half of junior doctors (49.5%) have needed to borrow money from family or friends in the last twelve months as their wages have failed to rise with inflation.
The survey also showed junior doctors were working more to boost their pay, with seven in ten (71.4%) junior doctors surveyed saying they have undertaken extra shifts on top of their standard contracts over the past year.
The BMA said this adds to its concerns around junior doctor exhaustion and burnout, with an earlier BMA survey this year showing 62% of junior doctors were suffering from a mental health condition related to or made worse by their work or study.
Junior doctors are considering industrial action in protest against what the BMA describes as ‘more than a decade of real-terms pay cuts’, with pay falling by 26.1% between 2008/09 and 2021/22.
Dr Becky Bates, a junior doctor in the East Midlands, who’s base rate of pay is £14.09 an hour, said: ‘This is my first year working in the NHS as a qualified doctor and I could never have anticipated spending it so skint. I love my job and am proud to be a doctor but the state of my finances is a constant stressor.
‘Each month, on top of the student loan repayments taken from my salary, I repay £400 of private debt I had to take on to cover my fees through medical school – debt I took on the basis of what my salary would have been five years ago.
‘I graduated from medical school with two overdrafts and three credit cards and I just don’t see how I will be able to climb out of this hole any time soon – never mind begin to consider taking on the additional cost of the exams needed to continue my career as a doctor. I had to take on an additional shift just to be able to afford to fix the headlights on my car.
‘When I couldn’t afford to eat in August, I had to borrow a credit card from a family member because I wasn’t eligible for a salary advance despite starting in July. I am planning to look into workplace support available but I will only become eligible once I have been working six months in the NHS. I can’t take on salary sacrifice because my training means I move to a new Trust in August 2023.
‘I’ve started using my annual leave to work additional shifts in the NHS. I know I’m not alone in thi3. This simply isn’t sustainable especially when on busier rotas – we deserve rest too.’
Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs, said: ‘Constantly worrying about how to pay our bills is leading many junior doctors to question their future in the NHS.
‘While pay has fallen off a cliff since 2008, mandatory costs, including exam, Royal College and license to practise fees, indemnity cover and even hospital car parking, have increased.
‘Junior doctors put their lives on the line to care for patients during the pandemic but this contribution has been ignored and morale is plummeting fast as many face hardship at home and a raw deal at work.
‘This Government needs to stop pretending that the pressures we’re seeing this winter isn’t a crisis of their making, stop ignoring our calls to meet with ministers and sit down and offer some reasonable practical solutions while there are still juniors doctors left in the NHS.’
Nurses went on strike yesterday (15 December) and will again walk out on Tuesday (20 December) across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, in hospital, community and mental health trusts which secured sufficient mandates in the RCN ballot.
Meanwhile, ambulance staff across most of England and Wales will go on strike on 21 and 28 December. The BMA has urged GPs not to step in and cover for striking ambulance workers after practices and PCNs across London were asked by NHS England to deploy staff.
You will not retain them.
Politicians think this is another brush under the carpet. They think this is banter and will pass. How dangerous that blindness will be. Start telling the public, to save for their food, bills and healthcare now. That is only right. Tell children too. Politicians and a complete inside job ruined a decent thing.
Aldi store managers get paid better than junior doctors these days. Uber drivers have been given equal employment rights to junior doctors.
They are calling themselves F3 and F4 these days, none of that really exists by the way, but it goes to show they are very undecided about the future. Most of them will leave for Australia. Some newly qualified GPs are realising Canada will treat them better.
My most recent comment has been taken down.
I would like to apologise
I in no way meant to harm the reputations of the noble callings of sex workers, money traffickers, drug dealers, organised criminals and the current occupants of the London Zoo Reptile house by perhaps drawing a too close comparison to Conservative Party MPs.