Junior doctors can make more money working as baristas, according to the chairman of the British Medical Association, the doctors' union, which is calling for a 35 per cent pay rise for the profession.
Prof Philip Banfield said junior doctors have received a series of “sub-inflation pay rises” which means they are earning about a third less than they would have in 2008.
He told BBC Radio 4 on Monday: “They are qualifying with about £100,000 ($120,360) of debt and then earning £14 an hour.
“BMA House has a Pret a Manger next to it, and they are offering more currently. Junior doctors are very bright, they are intelligent. They are driven. They have choices and it’s just ridiculous the state they are in. they are overworked.”
He was speaking as junior doctors started to strike for 72 hours, threatening to create the worst disruption to the health service since strike action began.
However, Prof Banfield said the NHS will actually be safer for patients, because more experienced doctors will step up.
Prof Banfield said that any danger faced by patients would be the "same danger that occurs every day".
"It's a scandal that three to 500 patients are dying each week in the current health service because of the chronic underfunding," he said.
Asked if the danger would be increased by the absence of junior doctors, he said: "What is going to happen over this next three days is that we are going to see senior doctors - I don't like the words junior and senior, this is just a level of experience and training - so we're seeing consultants and specialists doctors cover.
"They will stop, or should stop, their elective work and actually the NHS is maintaining a great deal of elective work. So we should see that the service is safe."
The strike, which coincides with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s budget on March 15, is calling for better pay and conditions, with the BMA calling for a reversal of a 26 per cent cut in real wages since 2008-2009.
Junior doctors strike in the UK - in pictures
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said in a statement: “We have been working closely with NHS England on contingency plans to help protect patient safety during strikes”.
“I hugely value the hard work of junior doctors and urge unions to come to the negotiating table”, he added.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government has been resisting the doctors' demands, saying it would stoke inflation.
The upheaval will come at a brutal time for the NHS, which has already been struggling with a tough winter and flu season, and significant staff shortages.
Patients have faced long waits for emergency care and ambulances have been queuing outside emergency departments. And more trouble is brewing as consultants are being balloted to join their junior colleagues in strike action.
