Junior Physicians in England to Begin Five-Day Walkout Next Month
Medical professionals in the UK are set to stage a five-day strike in November, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Strike Details
The BMA announced that junior physicians will walk out for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with government, pressing the health minister to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the minister to understand that a deal offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, giving newly trained doctors a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the government would see 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 leaving the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or as many as three years in general practice.
More details will follow shortly.
