Junior Physicians in the UK to Begin Five-Day Strike in November
Doctors in England are preparing to stage a five consecutive day walkout in November, in protest over jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that junior physicians will walk out for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, pressing the health secretary to resolve the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in England are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the minister to understand that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the government would see that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the public and our patients and would also help prevent our physicians departing from the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or as many as three years in general practice.
More details will follow shortly.
