Junior Doctors in the UK to Stage Five-Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in England are preparing to stage a five consecutive day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that junior physicians 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 medical staff in the National Health Service, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, pressing the health secretary to resolve the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to understand that a deal including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would recognize that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or as many as three years in general practice.
More details are expected soon.
