Junior doctors across England have started their three-day strike, protesting against inadequate pay and burnout that risks driving staff out of the National Health Service (NHS) as it tackles record-high patient waiting lists. “It’s not just 100 grand as a student; you’ve got to pay to be a member of your Royal College, you pay to do exams, to even progress in your career,” he said, adding that, as things stand, he cannot see himself remaining in the profession in the long term, despite his love for the job. Unions say wages, especially in the public sector, have fallen in real terms over the past decade, and a cost-of-living crisis fueled by sharply rising food and energy prices has left many struggling to pay their bills