Junior Doctors in the UK to Launch Five-Day Strike Next Month
Doctors in England are preparing to stage a five consecutive day walkout in November, in protest over pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The BMA stated that resident doctors will strike for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, pressing the health minister to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in England are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the minister to understand that a deal including options to slowly restore the pay reductions over several years, giving recent graduates a raise of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We hoped the government would see that our asks are not just fair but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or up to three years in general practice.
Further information will follow soon.
