LBC's Nick Ferrari shuts down caller in doctor’s strike row: 'Take on board my point'

LBC radio presenter Nick Ferrari furiously shut down a caller live on the air in a fiery debate about the five-day doctor's strike. On Friday (July 25), around 50,000 doctors up and down the country officially walked out of hospitals.

The doctors, previously known as junior doctors, were awarded a 5.4% pay rise for this financial year, following a 22% increase over the previous two years. But the British Medical Association (BMA) stated wages are still around 20% lower in real terms than in 2008 and are demanding “pay restoration”. The public is being advised to attend planned appointments over the strike period, as NHS England hospital bosses attempt to maintain operations and only reschedule appointments in exceptional circumstances.

To get another perspective on the hospital fallout, the 66-year-old welcomed a protesting doctor onto the show to discuss why they are striking.

The caller explained: “Resident doctors are about 21% down on their wages from 2008. So that as a first-year doctor who might graduate with £80,000 to £100,000 in student debt -”

It was at this point that dad-of-two interrupted the caller and pointed out that first-year doctors on strike would not have been working in 2008, therefore their personal pay has not been deducted since they started employment.

He argued: “Well, he wouldn’t have been working in 2008, would he? He wouldn’t have been working in 2008, would he?” The doctor insisted: “Well, they would be working for £18.60 an hour.”

Determined to get to the bottom of this, Nick pushed: “No, no. But would you just take on board the point I make? He or she would not have been working in 2008 would they, if they’re a first-year doctor?”

After several rounds of back and fourth, the caller went back to their main point of discussion in an attempt to get their point across. She went on: “So you asked us why we’re out here. We’re here because our pay has been eroded by 21% since 2008 -”

Interrupting her again, Nick concluded his line of questioning, saying: “So you won’t concede the point, okay. So, you’re not going to concede that.” It didn’t take long before listeners flooded to X – formerly known as Twitter – to share their dividing thoughts on the strikes online.

Some sided with Nick, with one user penning: “Junior/ Resident Doctors need to realise they need to serve an apprenticeship first. THEY have decided to put themselves before potential deaths of patients because of their greed.”

Another added: “Whether pay is in line or not, training doctors know the salary when they start training, they could of course choose a different career. Seems JNR doctors are jumping on the bandwagon of wanting more, we all do, but when we take a job/ train we know the salary at the start.”

Meanwhile, other’s sided with the resident doctors, with one arguing: “Just because they weren’t doctors in 2008 doesn’t mean pay shouldn’t be restored. Using that logic, they should only ever get pay rises based on their current salaries, which would always make them underpaid.”

Another fumed: “The argument from @LBC is vacuous. The point being made is clear: society values doctors less today than it did in 2008. Many of us were in medical school then or just qualifying. Fast forward to today and we are now worth less. @BMAResidents needs to answer better tbh.”