Resident Physicians in England to Launch Five-Day Strike Next Month
Medical professionals in England are set to begin a five consecutive day walkout in November, in protest over jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors will strike for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up about half of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, urging the health minister to end the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in the UK are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to understand that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over a number of years, providing newly trained doctors a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would see that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the community and our those we treat and would also help prevent our physicians leaving the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians 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 soon.
