Resident Physicians in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Strike in November
Doctors in England are preparing to stage a five consecutive day walkout in November, in protest over pay and employment.
Strike Details
The BMA stated that resident doctors will walk out for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who constitute nearly 50% of all doctors in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with government, pressing the health minister to resolve the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the health secretary to understand that a agreement offering solutions to slowly restore the pay reductions over a number of 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 departing from the health service.”
About Resident Doctors
Junior physicians 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.
