Campaign calls for end to junior doctor title

Qualified medics with years of experience should not be called “junior doctors”, according to Oxford University academics who are calling to end the use of the “discriminatory and belittling term”.

Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer, is backing the campaign, saying doctors should be given job titles that grant them “the respect they deserve”.

Some so-called junior doctors have a decade of experience but their title means they can be mistaken for students by patients.

David Matthews, a professor of diabetic medicine at Oxford University, said changing the job title would help doctors to feel more valued.