Resident Physicians in England to Begin Five-Day Walkout in November
Doctors in the UK are preparing to begin a five-day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The BMA announced that junior physicians will walk out for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with government, urging the health minister to end the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and hospital shifts remain vacant. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the minister to see that a deal offering solutions to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, giving recent graduates a raise of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the government would see that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help stop our doctors leaving 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 primary care.
Further information are expected shortly.
