A doctor has claimed that he is paid the same hourly rate as staff at Wetherspoons.

Dr Dev Gakhar shared the hourly rate he earns as a newly-qualified doctor while working for the NHS, with a wage slip showing he is paid £14.08 an hour.

However, Dr Gakhar didn’t mention that this is the bare minimum for first year doctors – or that he is set to get a wage rise of up to 10.3 per cent in the near future after the UK Government agreed to give junior doctors a boost in pay.

The figure mentioned is also basic pay and doesn’t reflect how junior doctors can boost their salary by opting to work overtime – or how their hourly rate is increased for working nights and weekends.

In fact, an analysis from FullFact last year found that junior doctors’ earn closer to £20-30-an-hour. 

The figure on Wetherspoons is also inaccurate, with the pub chain’s website showing that it’s bar workers earn £10.52-an-hour on average. 

Dr Gakhar made the claim while responding to someone on TikTok who said they were offered ‘£14 per hour working at Wetherspoons’.

He said that, although he may be newly qualified, ‘no rank of doctor should have £14 per hour as their starting salary in this day and age’. 

Dr Dev Gakhar shared the hourly rate he earns as a newly-qualified doctor while working for the NHS , which may come as a surprise to many. Responding to a comment on TikTok by an individual who claimed they 'got offered £14 per hour working at Wetherspoons', Dr Gakhar replies by saying that he 'worked the bar during med school as a part-time job to get by and I was paid £16 an hour'

Dr Dev Gakhar shared the hourly rate he earns as a newly-qualified doctor while working for the NHS , which may come as a surprise to many. Responding to a comment on TikTok by an individual who claimed they 'got offered £14 per hour working at Wetherspoons', Dr Gakhar replies by saying that he 'worked the bar during med school as a part-time job to get by and I was paid £16 an hour'

Dr Dev Gakhar shared the hourly rate he earns as a newly-qualified doctor while working for the NHS , which may come as a surprise to many. Responding to a comment on TikTok by an individual who claimed they ‘got offered £14 per hour working at Wetherspoons’, Dr Gakhar replies by saying that he ‘worked the bar during med school as a part-time job to get by and I was paid £16 an hour’

But in a follow-up video breaking down the wageslip in more detail, Dr Gakhar admitted: ‘In terms of gross pay we have my basic pay – so I worked 168 hours this month and was paid a rate of £14.08 an hour, which works out at about £2,300.

‘This £14 an hour, after the eight months of junior doctors strikes, has now gone up to about £15.50 which will be reflected in my upcoming paycheque.’

Junior doctors used to earn £29,384 in the first year of foundation training, which they enter after completing their medical degree, which worked out at £14.13 per hour.

But from their October payslip, annual basic pay for first year junior doctors will rise to £32,300 — around £15.50 an hour, using the same metric. And their pay rise will be backdated to April.

The £14 figure also doesn’t reflect how much junior medics actually make. 

They can boost their salary by opting to work overtime and their hourly rate is increased for working nights and weekends.

After around a decade as a junior doctor — during which their pay rises up to £63,000 — medics can become consultants, who earn up to £126,000 basic pay for a 40-hour week.

At this point, they can also opt to work extra hours and take on management or education responsibilities to further boost their pay.

An analysis from FullFact last year found that junior doctors’ pay is closer to £20-30-an-hour. 

Their weekend work can also see them earn a rate between 3% to 10% of their base pay. 

Wetherspoons bar staff, on the other hand, earn around £10.52-an-hour. They can earn up to 19% of their base pay, but this is usually only delivered quarterly. 

Concerned by the potentially low wage rates they could receive as a doctor, one user commented: ‘Do you think there will be any positive change in the near future? I want to be a doctor but I’m worried about salary and work life’. 

Dr Gakhar replied: ‘It’s working. Ninety-eight per cent of doctors just voted to strike. We increased our pay by 9 per cent on average this year and we are striking for restoration’. 

Another user said: ‘I am [an] admin supervisor and earn £15 an hour. I didn’t realise how little [doctors] got paid. 

But others have pointed out that Dr Gakhar is a junior doctor. One commenter said: ‘Can’t take criticism. He deletes all comments. You’re not a qualified doctor. You’re a trainee. The same as trainee solicitors.’

And on its own website, Wetherspoons says that bar staff are paid an average of £10.52 an hour – much less than the £14 an hour Dr Gakhar is paid on the NHS. 

The video comes as junior doctors and consultants prepare for four days of crippling joint strike action, starting next week.

British Medical Association (BMA) bosses announced the coordinated walkout will take place in England over separate days in both September and October.

It represents a huge escalation in the long-running dispute between the union and ministers over NHS pay and the first time both consultants and junior doctors will strike together – a first in health service history.

Consultants in England will be striking on September 19 and 20, with junior doctors then joining the strike on September 20.

Junior doctors will then continue the full walkout on September 21 and 22.

Both consultants and junior doctors will then return to the picket lines together from October 2 to 5.

The announcement came after junior doctors renewed their mandate for industrial action for another six months.

Just over 71 per cent of eligible BMA members voted with 43,440 (98 per cent) voting to continue the industrial action.

Union officials said the result should send be a warning Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, that he has ‘nowhere to hide’. 

You May Also Like

What’s driving COVID-19 workplace transmission in the third wave

On New Year’s Day, Hong arrived at the industrial laundry facility where…

Shannen Doherty, 51, gets a cosmetic procedure done to her face – can you tell what it is?

Shannen Doherty had a cosmetic procedure done to her face. And the results…

Florida asks Supreme Court to block CDC’s limits on cruise ship industry

Florida’s attorney general on Friday asked the Supreme Court to block federal…

Pfizer’s new RSV vaccine for older adults may trigger potentially deadly Guillain-Barre syndrome

Pfizer‘s new RSV vaccine for older adults may trigger the potentially deadly…