Protesting junior doctors were joined by campaign group “Keep Our NHS Public” who flew banners and held placards that read “Underfunding isn’t working” and “Where are our new hospitals?”.
The group’s spokesperson said the protests showed solidarity with striking frontline staff and was “an emergency response to how bad this crisis currently is.”
Junior doctors in England are currently being balloted by the British Medical Association (BMA) on taking industrial action in the coming weeks. They would become the latest NHS group to strike, with nurses and ambulance workers both walking out in recent months.
Joining the rally outside Leeds’s iconic Civic Hall in Millennium Square, Vassili Crispi, Co-Chairman Yorkshire Junior Doctors Committee, told the YEP:
"Junior doctors since 2008 have suffered severe cuts alongside other members of the public sector. Our pay cut of 26.1 per cent means that each year we are working a month for free compared to the year before.
"This is having a massive impact on retention and recruitment of doctors. Last year 10,000 doctors left the NHS and UK with 5,00 moving overseas for better pay and better working conditions.”
Here are some of the best pictures from the Leeds rally.
1. Junior Doctors rally in Millennium Square
Junior doctors in England are currently being balloted by the British Medical Association (BMA) on taking industrial action in the coming weeks. Photo: Steve Riding
2. Junior Doctors rally in Millennium Square
Vassili Crispi, Co-Chairman Yorkshire Junior Doctors Committee, said: "A uni qualified doctor is paid £14 an hour with increasing risks and responsibilities on their shoulders. Colleagues around the region are relying on foodbanks to survive and are graduating with £100k in student debt." Photo: Steve Riding
3. Junior Doctors rally in Millennium Square
Junior doctors could become the latest NHS group to strike, with nurses and ambulance workers both walking out in recent months. Photo: Steve Riding
4. Junior Doctors rally in Millennium Square
Thousands of campaigners and NHS workers have joined protests across England. Photo: Steve Riding
5. Junior Doctors rally in Millennium Square
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he is not able to “wave a magic wand” to resolve the bitter dispute over pay among NHS staff. Photo: Steve Riding
6. Junior Doctors rally in Millennium Square
Ross Nieuwoudt (C), first deputy of the BMA Yorkshire junior doctors committee, told the YEP: "As an F1 junior doctor you are thrust into things so you are covering night shifts, certifying deaths, attending arrests. It's an incredible stressful job and it's hard to switch off." Photo: Steve Riding