Resident Doctors in the UK to Launch Five Consecutive Day Walkout Next Month
Medical professionals in England are set to begin a five consecutive day strike next month, in protest over jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The BMA stated that junior physicians will strike for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, pressing the health minister to end the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts remain vacant. This cannot continue.”
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 a number of years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the government would recognize that our asks are not just fair but are in the interest of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our physicians departing from the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians 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 shortly.
