Resident Doctors in the UK to Launch Five-Day Strike Next Month
Doctors in England are preparing to stage a five consecutive day walkout next month, in protest over jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors will strike for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who constitute nearly 50% of all doctors in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with government, urging the health secretary to end the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to understand that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over a number of years, giving recent graduates a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the authorities would see that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our physicians departing from the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
More details are expected soon.
