Four in 10 junior doctors are planning to leave the NHS as soon as they can find another job, a shock survey has revealed.
Some 40% are intending to quit the health service as soon as they can, with many blaming pay and working conditions.
A third (33%) of junior doctors are planning to work abroad in the next 12 months, with Australia being the top destination choice, according to a poll by The British Medical Association (BMA).
The findings comes as the BMA, which represents 160,000 doctors and medical students, prepares to ballot junior doctors on industrial action from January 9.
The union has previously warned that two-thirds of junior doctors have researched leaving the NHS in the past year.
The NHS is already facing walkouts by nurses, paramedics and physiotherapists, with thousands of health workers to strike again in January.
Experts warn the NHS will not “be able to cope” if pay issues are not resolved and junior doctors permanently leave the health service.
More than 80% of junior doctors who said they were considering leaving the NHS cited pay or deteriorating working conditions for their desire to quit.
Many are planning a career change, with 14% looking to go into management consultancy, 12% to the pharmaceutical industry, and 13% to the private medical sector.
Of those who are actively planning to work as a doctor in another country, more than 40% plan to go to Australia and 20% to New Zealand, while 9% plan to go to the Middle East, Canada or Europe, excluding the UK.
A junior doctor working in the North West, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Mirror they were “really concerned about the future of the NHS”.
“I have been a doctor for three years and many of my friends who I started with have left for Australia or New Zealand with no plans to return.
"Others are applying for investment banking jobs or management consultancy roles where the hours are better, the pay is significantly better, they feel respected and valued,” the medic said.
“I genuinely love my job, I care about patients and I think I am a good doctor and until recently I had never considered any other career path. But, I am tired of working late and not being paid for it.
"I am sick of apologising to every patient I see that has had to wait 12 hours in A&E on a hard chair waiting to be seen.
“I don't want to cry on my walk home but tears are becoming a weekly occurrence. I know that the NHS needs me. I feel guilty when I look at job adverts for private industry that I know I would easily get work in and be paid twice as much for fewer hours, less work, less stress, fewer tears.”
The survey’s findings follow another poll conducted by the BMA earlier this month that found more than half of junior doctors said they have had difficulty heating and lighting their homes in the past year.
Almost three quarters of junior medics have had to take on extra shifts on top of their standard contracts over the past year, while half have needed to borrow money from family or friends, it showed.
Junior doctors have suffered a pay cut of more than a quarter in real terms between 2008-09 and 2021-22, the BMA said.
BMA’s chair of council, Professor Phil Banfield, said: “The situation is severe. A third of junior doctors are planning to work in another country. Four in ten say that as soon as they can find another job, they will leave the NHS.
"The health service will simply not be able to cope.
“For decades the NHS was the envy of the world. But without our doctors’ expertise, the country will get sicker. We will not accept impoverished healthcare for our nation, or acquiesce to those looking to slash pay and drive down living standards for NHS staff. In 2023 we will stand together with patients, an organised workforce ready to act.”
Dr Vivek Trivedi, BMA’s junior doctors committee co-chair, said: “Australia and New Zealand have shortages of doctors just like we do, but they pay theirs decently.
" If our government doesn’t act now, it doesn’t take a genius to see where this will lead: a further exodus of junior doctors to foreign countries, with the ones who stay to face an increasing workload - until they are tempted to leave too or get burnt out.
“If the government wants ‘move to Australia’ to stay off the New Year's resolution lists of junior doctors this year, it is going to have to start by reversing the 26% real terms pay cut they have endured since 2008 – or at the very least stop ignoring our repeated calls to address our pay.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "The Health and Social Care Secretary has been clear that supporting and retaining the NHS workforce is one of his key priorities, and that includes our hardworking junior doctors.
"Our multi-year pay deal with the British Medical Association is increasing junior doctor's pay by a cumulative 8.2% by 2023.
"We have also invested an additional £90 million to provide the most experienced junior doctors with higher pay, increased allowances for those working the most frequently at weekends, and increased rates of pay for night shifts.
"There are record numbers of staff working in the NHS, and we are committed to publishing a comprehensive workforce strategy next year."
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