Leading militant member of union behind doctor’s strike sets up website… to encourage doctors to quit the NHS

•  Dr Zain Khan sits on British Medical Association union’s executive council
•  But 23-year-old is enticing fellow doctors to quit profession for highly paid jobs 
•  Beyond Medicine is an online service which helps doctors to leave the NHS

A leading member of the union behind doctors’ strikes runs a website that helps medics leave the NHS for lucrative careers in banking, tech and management consultancy.

Newly qualified Dr Zain Khan is a militant member of the British Medical Association (BMA) union’s executive council, despite only working for the NHS for less than a month.

But the 23-year-old is enticing fellow doctors to quit the profession for highly paid jobs at Google and Deutsche Bank, or to move abroad to practise for higher pay.

Last night, MPs branded the idea of a BMA rep encouraging trained doctors to leave the NHS as ‘outrageous’ at a time when taxpayers fund much of the £245,000 cost of a five-year medical degree.

Senior doctors walked out on their patients for 48 hours last week, resulting in thousands of cancelled appointments and operations. 

Dr Zain Khan, a militant member of the BMA union’s executive council, runs a website that helps medics leave the NHS for lucrative careers in banking, tech and management consultancy

The consultant strikes came days after a five-day junior doctor walkout.

Dr Khan is one of 69 elected members of the executive council that runs the BMA. He also sits on the organisation’s Trade Dispute Preparedness Committee and boasts on his LinkedIn page of playing an ‘active role in formulating strategies to protect the interests of doctors’ during industrial action.

READ MORE: Senior doctors announce two extra strike days next month and will walk out again ‘in due course’ following ‘insulting’ 6% pay rise

He only started working as a doctor this month after completing a medical degree at Newcastle University, but has already founded an online service called Beyond Medicine, which helps doctors to leave the NHS.

Beyond Medicine’s website describes it as a ‘revolutionary new project that connects doctors with a range of employment opportunities outside of the conventional medical pathway’.

The site boasts of having contacts who include doctors working at ‘Deutsche Bank, Google and McKinsey & Co’ and offers tips about conferences and networking events with employers who are ‘actively recruiting doctors’.

The website promises an e-book will be released soon to help doctors and students ‘unlock the full potential of their degree’, adding: ‘It will guide you on how to build your CV and pivot into fields such as investment banking, venture capital, management consulting, law, MedTech [medical technology], private medicine and others.’

Tutoring and exam coaching for doctors wishing to practise abroad is also promoted by Beyond Medicine, which has more than 1,400 members on a linked Facebook group. 

On his personal Twitter account, Dr Khan claimed UK doctors were ‘being completely rinsed’, adding: ‘Doctors – you need to be actively exploring your options.’ 

He wrote that his site ‘connects you to alternative career pathways such as investment banking, management consulting and MedTech.’

Former Tory Minister Mark Francois said: ‘My wife has worked for the NHS for nearly two decades, so I’m disappointed to hear of someone on the BMA executive, who has apparently only just become an NHS doctor, seemingly encouraging others to leave the service.’

Former Tory Minister Mark Francois said he was ‘disappointed’ to hear about a BMA executive ‘seemingly encouraging others to leave the service’

Tory MP Jonathan Gullis said it was ‘absolutely outrageous’, adding: ‘When we know that places on medical courses are already sparse – it is disappointing that anyone would encourage doctors to to work in a foreign country after they have been trained to treat patients here.

‘This case further undermines the confidence in the leadership of the BMA, which is more focused on politicking than helping doctors deal with the NHS backlog.’

Jonathan Eida, researcher of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, added: ‘Taxpayers heavily subsidise the cost of medical degrees. Patients will now wonder whether this is good value for money, as doctors look for where the grass is greener.’

Last night Dr Khan said: ‘My role as a BMA councillor is to advocate for doctors. That’s why I fully support doctors’ strikes, and fully support doctors seeking a diverse range of opportunities that enables them to thrive professionally. 

‘The erosion of doctors’ pay and conditions has made seeking exit opportunities more necessary than ever. Doctors are skilled professionals and exist within a global market.’

A BMA spokesman said: ‘Rather than mining personal social media accounts, the media’s focus should be on the staffing crisis and the Government’s refusal to negotiate a settlement which is pushing doctors to the limit of their endurance and willingness to continue to work in the health service.

‘The fact that junior doctors are fleeing the NHS is entirely the responsibility of the Government, which has allowed their pay to erode by more than 26 per cent in the last 15 years, while their workloads have increased.’

Senior doctors walked out on their patients for 48 hours last week, resulting in thousands of cancelled appointments and operations

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