Junior Physicians in the UK to Begin Five-Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to stage a five consecutive day strike in November, in protest over jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that junior physicians will strike for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Resident doctors, who constitute about half of all doctors in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, urging the health minister to end the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients 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 including options to slowly restore the pay reductions over several years, providing recent graduates a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the government would see that our demands are not just fair but are in the best interests of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our physicians departing from the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or up to three years in primary care.
More details will follow soon.
