Junior Physicians in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Walkout in November
Doctors in the UK are preparing to stage a five consecutive day strike in November, in protest over jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The BMA announced that resident doctors will walk out for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who constitute about half of all doctors in the National Health Service, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
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 government, pressing the health secretary to end the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the health secretary to understand that a agreement including options to slowly restore the cuts to pay over a number of years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would see that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our physicians leaving 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 up to three years in primary care.
Further information are expected shortly.
