Junior doctor paid £14 per hour had to work extra shifts to afford mandatory exam fees

A junior doctor was being paid so little she was forced to work extra shifts at a hospital to pay for her exams.

Dr Sumi Manirajan, 29, is a junior doctor from West Croydon and is a committee member for the British Medical Association (BMA).

Junior doctors in England have begun three days of strike action over wages falling behind rising inflation. They say they have seen a 26 per cent real-terms cut to their pay since 2008.

Members of BMA and the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA), the trade unions for doctors in the UK, are taking part in the strike, which started at 7am yesterday and will continue until 7am on Thursday.

Dr Manirajan said: “Last year I was being paid £14 an hour and I needed to do a mandatory exam if I wanted to progress in my career.

“To do this exam I needed to make sacrifices in my life and do extra shifts on top of 48 hours a week.

“This isn’t just me, it is the case of many of my colleagues.”

The BMA’s ballot for strike action saw 98 per cent of junior doctors who took part vote for industrial action, giving the union an unprecedented mandate for walk-outs, which also saw union membership hit a record high of 182,000.

Newly-qualified medics earn just £14.09 an hour.

“I decided I wanted to be a doctor really young and my life has been dedicated to that, said Dr Manirajan. “The preparation that went into this job was huge.”

“When I was on work experience the thing that really made me want to be a doctor was the doctor-patient relationship.

“This was in 2008 when the NHS provided gold standard care and the patient-doctor relationship was at its best.”

The BMA is asking for a 35 per cent pay rise after years of inflation has meant that junior doctor wages have effectively been cut by 26 per cent.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:  “It is incredibly disappointing the British Medical Association (BMA) has declined my offer to enter formal pay negotiations on the condition strikes are paused.

“I hugely value the hard work of junior doctors and urge unions to come to the negotiating table and cancel strikes, which risk patient safety and impact efforts to tackle the backlog.

“I want to find a fair settlement which recognises the crucial role of junior doctors and the wider economic pressures facing the UK.”

Pictured top: Dr Sumi Manirajan (Picture: BMA)