Militant junior doctor, 29, behind devastating NHS strikes owns a £500,000, mortgage-free flat
A junior doctors’ leader who claims he is ‘constantly worrying’ about how to pay his bills owns a £500,000 flat with no mortgage, the Mail can reveal.
Dr Robert Laurenson, 29, has been the driving force behind a series of crippling strikes as co-chairman of the British Medical Association’s junior doctors committee.
The union activist wants taxpayers to fund a 35 per cent pay rise for trainee medics, claiming many are considering quitting the NHS because they face ‘hardship at home’.
But title deeds from the Land Registry show he bought a flat in Newham, East London, for £484,000 in May 2019.
The property, on the site of the former West Ham United football stadium, is not mortgaged and is now valued at around £524,000.
Dr Laurenson urged colleagues to walk out of hospitals, including A&E and cancer wards, for five days earlier this month, in the longest strike in NHS history.
And he has called for them to strike again for four days next month, from August 11. It will come just nine days after thousands of new doctors start work in the NHS.
Speaking last December, he said: ‘Constantly worrying about how to pay our bills is leading many junior doctors to question their future in the NHS.
‘Junior doctors put their lives on the line to care for patients during the pandemic but this contribution has been ignored and morale is plummeting fast as many face hardship at home and a raw deal at work.’
Industrial action by the likes of doctors, nurses and physiotherapists has already led to the cancellation of 819,000 appointments and operations.
Rishi Sunak has awarded trainee medics a pay rise of six per cent plus a consolidated payment of £1,250, which is equivalent to an average increase of 8.1 per cent.
They will pocket the rise but have vowed to continue striking every month until they receive more, leaving patients on waiting lists in agony for longer.
Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith said: ‘It’s clear that the likes of Laurenson aren’t as hard-up as the BMA tries to make out.
‘Instead of making unreasonable demands for more taxpayers’ cash, the BMA junior doctors should call off the strikes and get back to helping patients.’
The average age of a first-time home-buyer in London is 33.8 years, with a typical price of £466,660 and a deposit of £61,000.
Dr Laurenson, who sparked controversy by travelling to a friend’s wedding during the first junior doctors’ strike, is also a director of his family’s investment firm.
Westholme Investments Limited holds over £2million of investments and previously ran a Surrey golf course described as ‘one of the finest’ in the county.
Dr Laurenson was made a director in 2013, a year after he began his medical degree at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.
It is understood he has no day-to-day duties with the firm, does not draw a salary or dividends and is not a shareholder.
The GP trainee works at Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, having taken a year out after his degree to work as a freelance doctor for ‘money and wellbeing’, according to his LinkedIn page.
The firm for which he worked as a locum doctor has drawn millions from the NHS by cashing in on staff shortages.
He attended £46,566-a-year Sevenoaks School in Kent, one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the country.
Recent polling by Opinium of 2,080 UK adults found that 47 per cent think the pay award for junior doctors is ‘about right’ and 10 per cent say it is ‘too high’.
Basic pay for a first-year doctor will increase from £29,300 to £32,300 and a doctor progressing in to speciality training can expect an increase from £40,200 to £43,900.
Doctors receive allowances for evening and weekend working on top of their basic pay and can earn promotion to consultant level, who have an average income of £134,000.
A BMA spokesperson said: ‘Raking over the details of individuals’ lives won’t change the fact that junior doctors have seen their pay decline by more than a quarter in fifteen years.’
