Junior Physicians in the UK to Launch Five-Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in England are preparing to begin a five consecutive day strike next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors will walk out for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who make up about half of all doctors in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, urging the health secretary to resolve the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and hospital shifts remain vacant. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the health secretary to understand that a agreement offering solutions to slowly restore the pay reductions over several years, providing recent graduates a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the government would recognize that our demands are not just fair but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or up to three years in primary care.
More details will follow shortly.
