The NHS is terminally ill. Jeremy Hunt’s latest plans to stretch junior doctors to their mortal limits could send Britain’s national treasure six feet under.

The sweeping changes to junior doctors' contracts have rightly caused outrage in all quarters of the medical profession.The plans are unforgivable: more working hours, scrapping additional pay for antisocial hours, and a 30% cut to wages in the fields of medical research and trainee specialism.

As an aspiring doctor and a lover of the NHS, these changes are lamentable: the beginning of the end is well nigh.

The NHS is already failing to attract medical graduates, who are flocking to European and farther international shores to escape the unrewarded workload and antisocial hours. They accuse us of betraying an NHS that has trained us, but such accusations are unduly harsh: there is a point at which it becomes unbearable to show gratitude through tolerance of poor working conditions. And lest Whitehall has forgotten, doctors are only human; stretching them to their limits brings into jeopardy the welfare and safety of patients. The law of medical negligence serves as a fatal reminder to the government : there is no such thing as a Defence of Exhaustion.

That’s right: doctors do suffer from fatigue. And guess what, Whitehall? We get stressed. More importantly, 10-20% of doctors have been depressed at some point in their career. You can’t put a price on mental wellbeing, but if you could it would certainly be more than the abysmal wages which we also have to endure: £22,636 after five or six years of medical school is not only laughable, but also below the average graduate starting salary. To give the government some context, that’s only 2% of Lord Ashcroft’s donation to the Tories.

Excuse my sarcasm, Sir, but this saga highlights a wider problem: the dehumanisation of the medical workforce. We are expected to be morally impeccable Mother Theresas in robot form. It is forgotten that junior doctors are also sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, wives and husbands, friends and neighbours. Some of us even like to eat a decent meal in our spare time.

I understand that the government wants more doctors working on weekends: statistically, more hospital deaths occur on Saturdays and Sundays. But the government fails to see that there simply aren't enough adequately trained doctors to fully staff hospitals to attain a consistent 24/7 high standard of care to patients. Face the facts: you need more doctors. You also need to convince and encourage me, a medical student, to stay on British soil and join the NHS. As much as you treat us with contempt, the state is at the mercy of us students. And no, don’t tell me to calm down, dear. 

Yes, Whitehall, this is my protest. Echoing the chants of many angry trainee doctors in a protest to condemn the new contracts in Westminster last Monday: "Make us tired, make us stressed, that's how you'll kill the NHS.”