Junior doctor Emeka Okorocha and journalist Emma Woolf clashed on Monday's Good Morning Britain as the latter claimed not all NHS workers are "heroes".
Susanna Reid and Ed Balls asked the guests whether NHS workers that have gone on strike should be banned from the King's coronation after it was revealed the Government has included NHS staff on a list of 3,800 VPs for the special occasion.
Emma remarked: We need to get away from this idea that all health workers, all medics, all doctors, all paramedics are heroes.
"We applauded them during the pandemic, many of them are absolutely amazing I've encountered in my life, in my family's life, wonderful, wonderful doctors, nurses."
"But I've also encountered lazy nurses, doctors who don't do their jobs properly. We need to get away from this idea. The fact is the NHS needs reform, it needs reform, it's not about a pay increase," he continued.
"The reasons for the pressure on the NHS are things like obesity, about two thirds of UK adults are overweight or obese, it's things like immigration."
Interjecting, Ed asked: "Just to understand you're saying that Dr Emeka, who went on strike, is a doctor but in your view he is not a hero."
Emma disagreed and stated that Dr Emeka "is a hero because he works in A&E".
The journalist incensed viewers as one tweeted: "Geez this Emma Woolf on #GMB is a disgrace.," while another wrote: "Emma, myself and my colleagues went above and beyond during the pandemic. We are hero’s, we risk our own lives to save others. Strikes aren’t just for pay, they’re for better working conditions. We are worth more than a clap on a Thursday night #GMB."
"Emma Wolf says that the doctor is a hero because he works in A&E and in her very next breath, says he isn’t a hero. She’s twisting her own words! #GMB," a third added.
Hitting back, Dr Emeka detailed the reasons for striking: "First of all, it's not a pay rise, it's a pay restoration. Junior doctors weren't striking for more money it was more to restore the money that we as junior doctors and doctors in the profession had expected back when it was decreed in the 2000s.
"I think a lot of people assume junior doctors want more money, there's so much more to the strike than that and I think it's completely different an issue to the coronation of the King. I think punishing junior doctors for industrial action which we are entitled to is completely absurd."
