Health
Most junior doctors’ basic pay was higher than £14 per hour in 2022/23
New claims about junior doctor pay in England, including from a Labour MP, are potentially misleading. Read
Fact checks
Resident Doctors
Who are resident doctors (previously known as junior doctors) and what do they do? Explore fact checks on NHS junior doctors in England and the UK — pay, strikes, training, and more.
Health
It does not cost the public £500,000 to train a doctor
It may cost nearly half a million to train a surgeon, but not any doctor, as the former health minister also said. It also does not look likely that almost half of UK doctors later move to Australia o Read
Fact checks
Health
Would a 35% pay uplift for junior doctors cost £1 billion or £2 billion?
A Labour MP quoted BMA figures claiming junior doctor “pay restoration” would cost £1 billion, but the health secretary said it would cost £2 billion. Read
Fact checks
Comparison of junior doctors’ pay with baked beans prices lacks context
Most junior doctors are paid more than the equivalent of ten tins per hour, even if you only consider basic pay. Read
Fact checks
Health
How do junior doctors’ pay demands compare with MPs’ recent salary rises?
Some claims made during the recent strike used a mix of cash-terms and real-terms figures. Read
Fact checks
Health
Official death data doesn’t tell us whether junior doctors’ strikes cost lives
A Telegraph article claimed that strikes were a factor behind a spike in deaths in England. But a similar spike occurred in Wales, where there were no strikes. Read
Fact checks
Health
The average junior doctor gets paid more than £14 an hour
A BMA advertisement says that a junior doctor makes just £14.09 per hour. This might be true in some cases, but on average junior doctors earn much more. Read
Fact checks
Health
Are junior doctors paid enough to get a UK visa?
In December 2017, a non-EEA junior doctor needed to be earning £55,000 in order to get a visa for the UK. Read
Fact checks
Health
The cost of training a doctor
The government estimates that it costs £230,000 overall to get the average student through medical school. “The taxpayer” doesn’t pay for all of this because some comes in student loans. Read
Fact checks
Health
Are 125,000 operations predicted to be cancelled?
Although reports have varied, the government and health bosses are now agreed that around 125,000 operations are expected to be cancelled over junior doctors’ strikes between September and December. Read
Fact checks
