Resident Doctors in England to Launch Five Consecutive Day Strike in November
Doctors in the UK are preparing to begin a five consecutive day walkout next month, in protest over pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that junior physicians will strike for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up about half of all doctors in the National Health Service, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with government, urging the health minister to end the scandal 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 shifts in hospitals remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the health secretary to understand that a agreement offering solutions to slowly restore the pay reductions over several years, giving recent graduates a raise of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the government would see that our asks are not just fair but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.
Further information will follow soon.