Junior Physicians in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Walkout Next Month
Doctors in England are preparing to stage a five consecutive day strike in November, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The BMA stated 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 nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, pressing the health secretary to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in England 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 negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to see that a agreement offering solutions to slowly restore the cuts to pay over a number of years, giving recent graduates a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We hoped the government would recognize that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the public and our patients and would also help stop our doctors departing from the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in general practice.
More details will follow soon.
