On Saturday (October 17) junior doctors took to the streets of Westminster in protest of planned changes to their contracts.

An estimated 16,000 people joined the protest, including NHS workers, junior doctors and members of the public.

The new contract will see sociable working hours extended to include 7am to 10pm every day except Sunday, from the current sociable hours of 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday.

As extra payments for unsociable working can be earned outside of these hours, The British Medical Association (BMA) argue that the deal to extend hours could mean pay cuts of up to 30%.

This contract change comes after the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, claimed that the NHS does not offer a "seven-day-a-week" service.

Sarah*, a junior doctor, said: "We already work long enough hours, and there already is a seven day NHS, so it's absolutely ridiculous for Jeremy Hunt to bring in a new contract. We don't need a new contract, we just need to be working safe and fair hours for the money we get.

"There's talk that we're actually going to start earning less than area managers for fast food chains, which is absolutely ridiculous considering the amount of responsibility we take on day to day every day."


The protest started at Waterloo Place, with the march moving along Pall Mall and Whitehall, before ending in Parliament Square outside the House of Commons.

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Anna*, an associate specialist, said: "I am here to support the junior doctors because I think it's completely unfair to have a 30% pay cut when MPs give themselves a 10% pay rise, and they don't have the immediate responsibility of saving lives, and making life-or-death decisions 24/7.

"We need an NHS that is publicly funded and publicly provided. I'm completely against the privatisation of the NHS when private firms can make a profit out of sick and suffering people both in health and in social care."

Hunt accused the BMA of "misrepresenting" the proposed changes, arguing that the basic rate of pay will rise, as well as a reduction to the maximum amount of hours worked.

Hunt told the BBC: "We don't want to cut the pay going to junior doctors, we do want to change the pay structures that force hospitals to roster three times less medical cover at weekends as they do in weeks and that means that there's a 15% greater chance of you dying if you are admitted on a Sunday, compared to being admitted on a Wednesday.

"This is a good deal for doctors. We are reducing the maximum hours a doctor can be asked to work from 91 to 72 hours, we're stopping doctors being asked to work for five nights in a row."


This protest is the second of its kind in the last month; on Tuesday September 29, up to 3,000 junior doctors protested against the new contracts in Parliament Square.

*Names have been changed on request.

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