Resident Doctors in the UK to Stage Five-Day Strike Next Month
Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to begin a five consecutive day strike in November, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that junior physicians will strike for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who make up nearly 50% of all doctors in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with government, urging the health secretary to resolve the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the minister to see that a deal including options to slowly restore the pay reductions over a number of years, providing recent graduates a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the government would recognize that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the community and our those we treat and would also help stop our doctors departing from the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or up to three years in general practice.
Further information will follow shortly.
