NHS doctors are being lured to Australia by adverts promising them a six-figure salary and 20 days off each month to “travel, swim and surf in the sun”.
The advert has been placed in the BMJ, the prominent journal published by the British Medical Association union, during a week in which the NHS has been rocked by further nurses’ strikes.
The industrial action is one of a number of long-running pay disputes between health workers and the government. While unions representing more than one million NHS staff accepted a 5 per cent pay rise on Wednesday, nurses and junior doctors are among those still battling for better wages.
In claims central to the calls for improved pay, Royal College of Nursing chief Pat Cullen again warned this week that “tens of thousands” of nursing vacancies in the NHS are putting patients’ lives at risk “every single day”.
Seeking to exploit this pay dissatisfaction – which is at an-all time low among NHS staff – Australian medical recruitment firm Blugibbon has opted to target those “sick of the NHS”.
In a reference to Adam Kay’s bestselling book detailing his gruelling experiences as a junior doctor in the NHS, This Is Going to Hurt, the advert in the BMJ states: “Got that Dr Adam K feeling? Come to Australia!”
Targeting UK graduate doctors with A&E experience, the advert claims successful applicants can work 10 shifts per month and “travel, swim and surf in the sun” for the other 20 days, with an annual salary of $240,000 Australian dollars (£127,000) and “accommodation provided”.
In a more detailed advert posted on the BMJ website, for a role in Brisbane, the company writes: “A&E Registrar sick of the NHS? This isn’t going to hurt… Come to Australia for a working holiday to escape the grind. And why? Because we have tens of thousands of vacant nursing posts.”
The advert offers £2,000 Australian dollars (£1,060) per shift for a year, with a $10,000 to $20,0000 (£10,600) completion bonus after 12 months – putting successful applicants in the “top 5 per cent of Australian earners”.
In a Twitter post, author and former medic Kay shared a picture of the advert referencing him, writing: “How depressing to see this in the BMJ.
“It’s hard to say those figures don’t present a compelling argument. It all leads to a big question for the [government]: if you don’t address doctors’ very reasonable pay concerns, alongside their conditions and wellbeing, guess where they’re going?”
He added: “It goes without saying they didn’t ask about using most of my name.”
Some 4,843 doctors moved abroad to practice medicine last year, according to General Medical Council figures – with one in four going to Australia.
British Medical Association polling in December found that 40 per cent of junior doctors are actively planning to leave the NHS as soon as they can find another job, while one third planned to move abroad within 12 months and continue practising medicine, with Australia as the top choice of destination.
According to the NHS website, a doctor starting their specialist training in 2022 could expect a basic salary of £40,257 to £53,398, while specialty doctors were paid £50,373 to £78,759, and specialist grade doctors up to £91,584.
