A medic has today hit back at a Question Time audience member who wrongly declared ‘every doctor in the country earns more than £80,000.’
IT consultant Rob Barber launched a tirade on the BBC show last week, when he suggested ‘doctors earn more than £80,000’ as he slammed Jeremy Corbyn‘s stringent plan to ‘super-tax’ hard-working Britons.
His argument has now prompted a furious response from NHS specialist Dr Asif Munaf, who shared his payslip online as he confirmed he earns £48,000-a-year.
In his scathing riposte Dr Asif, a Sport and Exercise Medicine Registrar who once appeared on Dragon’s Den, said Mr Barber was ‘terribly misinformed.’
He tweeted: ‘I spent 6 years at medschool and a further 7 years of specialist training and I get paid £48,000. He needs to #factscheck and use some of his £80,000 on a new shirt and trim.’
Dr Asif said he works some 40 hours a week and his earnings cover a single salary household with an 18-month-old son.
He told MailOnline doctors are ‘massively underpaid’, adding: ‘Mr Barbers’ ill-informed comments made me appreciate the sheer ignorance that is prevalent…People just assume that doctors have high salaries without necessarily knowing the full pay scale.’
Dr Asif Munaf, who shared his payslip online as he confirmed he earns £48,000-a-year, in response to a Question Time debate
Dr Asif, a registrar who once appeared on Dragon’s Den, said Mr Barber was ‘terribly misinformed’
Dr Asif said he works some 40 hours a week and his earnings cover a single salary household with an 18-month-old son
Last week Mr Barber, a 38-year-old IT consultant and high-profile motorcycle racer, argued with shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon over his party’s policy of imposing £83billion in new taxes.
But he had some viewers scratching their heads after claiming he was not in the top 5 per cent of earners, despite saying his salary was more than £80,000.
Mr Barber said: ‘Every doctor, every accountant, every solicitor earns more than that, that’s not 5 per cent!’.
Dr Asif Munaf, a doctor, NHS Clinical Entrepreneur and personal trainer, tweeted in response: ‘This guy is terribly misinformed. “All doctors get paid more than £80,000”.
‘I spent 6 years at medschool and a further 7 years of specialist training and I get paid £48,000.
‘He needs to #factscheck and use some of his £80,000 on a new shirt and trim.’
Dr Asif told MailOnline: ‘Mr Barbers’ ill-informed comments made me appreciate the sheer ignorance that is prevalent in the general public and the ill-conceived perception regarding doctors salaries and how the junior doctor strikes of 2016 have been seemingly forgotten about.
‘People just assume that doctors have high salaries without necessarily knowing the full pay scale: from first year to consultant.
‘It also made me realise that I get massively underpaid relative to the length of training I have undertaken as well as the importance of the job I am doing.
‘If Mr Barber is on £80,000 some of my less qualified peers who are on triple my salary after only a three year degree, it made me question the profession I am working in.
‘Although I never went in to medicine for the money, a job should be remunerated based on its value and not whether you work for this company or that company.
‘This sadly is not the case in a lot of public sector jobs and has prompted me to quit my junior doctor training as I do not wish to be labelled as “just a junior doctor”.
His tweet has since garnered more than 2,000 likes and see hundreds share their own earnings and stories.
Many praised his cutting response and thanked him for his work.
One Twitter user wrote: ‘The NHS consultant pay scale starts below £80K and those doctors will have a minimum of 8 years postgraduate experience working in and serving the NHS. Brilliant staff grade doctors don’t ever hit that salary and they are tremendously skilled and experienced.’
The NHS specialist said: ‘I spent 6 years at medschool and a further 7 years of specialist training and I get paid £48,000’
Richard Barber accused Richard Burgeon’s party of railing against billionaires and the uber-wealthy, but actually pledging policies which would rinse the pockets of ordinary employees
Many Twitter users praised his cutting response and thanked the doctor for his work
Dr Asif is a medical registrar and a junior doctor for seven years, going through both Foundation and Core Medical Training.
He currently works as locum registrar at The Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham. He is also an NHS Clinical Entrepreneur, holds a Masters in Public Health and is also a Level 3 REPS accredited Personal Trainer.
He also runs a wellness business offering IV vitamin therapy and bespoke blood testing which is popular among Instagram influencers.
Dr Asif is a member of the Royal College of Physicians and revealed how he came from a council estate in Sheffield and was five years old when he first realised he wanted to be a doctor.
Dr Asif appeared on Series 15 of Dragons Den where he pitched his smoothie company ‘DATE Smoothie’ and attempted to win a £50,000 investment for a 10 per cent stake
In a blog post for the Royal College of Physicians, the father-of-one said: ‘However, growing up in the most educationally-deprived area in the country, this was more youthful audacity than achievable reality.
‘In spite of our surroundings, there was certainly no poverty of aspiration.
‘I hope my story can inspire other doctors from different walks of life to consider a career in medicine, so that medicine retains this very unique sense of diversity.’
Dr Asif appeared on Series 15 of Dragons Den where he pitched his smoothie company ‘DATE Smoothie’ and attempted to win a £50,000 investment for a 10 per cent stake.
But he was turned away by the dragons, who said his ‘thinking was completely wrong in terms of his brand’.
According to HMRC figures, the top 5 per cent bracket included anyone earning over £75,300 in 2016-17. Adjusting for wage rises since then, the threshold is probably now around £80,000
