Crunching the data: are resident doctors in England badly paid?
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/12/crunching-the-data-are-resident-doctors-in-england-badly-paid
Posted by prisongovernor
Crunching the data: are resident doctors in England badly paid?
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/12/crunching-the-data-are-resident-doctors-in-england-badly-paid
Posted by prisongovernor
14 Comments
So if even the Guardian admits pay is only actually 7% lower than 2010, why is the BMA demanding 20%? The Guardian used CPIH to measure inflation, while the BMA used RPI, which was abandoned a decade ago by the ONS because it overstates inflation…
So [edit – so to summarise the article – ]
– They have fallen about 5.8% behind general public sector pay since 2010 (after allowing for current pay award which was higher than most in public sector).
– Really difficult to compare internationally – but England seems to be towards the top payers for doctors.
– Qualifying means you can go abroad to work – and some Doctors take that opportunity. The NHS also recruits from abroad. Just because people go abroad doesn’t mean the UK is bad – just people want to try Aus, NZ etc
– Doctors are using an outdated inflation measure to negotiate with – the government still uses that outdated inflation measure for some things, but it is generally agreed that it should be stopped as not valid.
Note that one of the graphs suggest private sector pay has risen more than public sector since 2010 – yes – but private sector pay fell more 2008-2010 than public sector pay, so if you re-based to 2008 they would be similar. Private sector pay tends to respond faster to market conditions than public sector.
I wonder how much of the 7.5% rise in private sector wages is down to the 55% real-terms rise in the minimum wage? How far have wages risen for trainee, part-qualified & fully-qualified accountants or architects, for example? Are doctors underpaid compared to other professions? Comparing to average wages doesn’t seem that useful when the government’s intention for over a decade now has been to raise the minimum wage closer and closer to the median wage.
Considering what celebrities are paid, I think it’s abhorrent that Doctors are so poorly paid given they save lives, daily!
When you’ve lost even the Guardian, then you know there’s a problem
Well yeah that’s what happens when you have a influx of cheap doctors for half a decade.
Can gov not just say they’ll cancel all doctor student debt in return for no pay increase?
Weird how the entire article about Resident Doctors’ pay doesn’t include a single salary number for resident doctors.
Sure, specialists make money I guess but that’s not what the entire article is about??
I’ve seen people complaining that the doctors are asking for a pay rise while using RPI to calculate what they are owed…. its worth noting that their loans are calculated using RPI so I think its only fair to use this metric for their pay.
[Have a look at this](https://images.app.goo.gl/kJGBJ)
Doctors in the UK are paid way less relative to the median wage compared to other countries in the Anglosphere.
We should pay doctors whatever they want and then some. We need them. Maybe have a cheeky wealth tax if it needs funding 🤷♀️
I’ve got to admit, I’m a butcher and I get paid more. That seems a little unfair
When, and why did we start using “resident” to describe consultants / SHO grades?