Junior Physicians in the UK to Launch Five Consecutive Day Strike in November
Doctors in the UK are preparing to stage a five-day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
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 constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, urging the health minister to resolve the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to see that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, providing newly trained doctors a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would recognize that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the community and our those we treat and would also help prevent our physicians leaving the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
More details will follow shortly.
