Resident Doctors in the UK to Stage Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month
Doctors in England are preparing to begin a five consecutive day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The BMA announced that junior physicians will walk out for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who constitute nearly 50% of all doctors in the National Health Service, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, urging the health secretary to resolve the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the health secretary to see that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the authorities would recognize that our demands are not just fair but are in the best interests of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our physicians leaving the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or as many as three years in general practice.
Further information are expected soon.
