Junior Doctors in England to Begin Five-Day Walkout Next Month
Medical professionals in the UK are set to begin a five consecutive day strike next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that resident doctors will strike for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who make up nearly 50% of all doctors in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, pressing the health secretary to resolve the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in England are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients 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 including options to slowly restore the pay reductions over several years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the government would see that our asks are not just fair but are in the best interests of the public and our patients and would also help stop our physicians leaving the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or up to three years in primary care.
More details are expected shortly.
