Junior Physicians in the UK to Begin Five-Day Walkout in November
Doctors in England are set to begin a five-day strike next month, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that junior physicians will walk out for five days in a row 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 government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, urging the health minister to resolve the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the health secretary to see that a deal offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over a number of years, giving recent graduates a raise of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the government would recognize that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help stop our physicians departing from the health service.”
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 primary care.
Further information are expected shortly.
