Junior Physicians in the UK to Launch Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month
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) stated 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 constitute about half of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks 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 officials, urging the health secretary to resolve the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in England 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 negotiated sincerely, keen for the minister to understand that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, providing recent graduates a raise of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We hoped the government would recognize that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the public and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors departing from the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or as many as three years in primary care.
Further information will follow shortly.
