Junior Physicians in the UK to Launch Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month
Doctors in England are preparing to stage a five consecutive day walkout in November, in protest over jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The BMA stated that junior physicians will strike for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, urging the health minister to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in the UK are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to understand that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, giving newly trained doctors a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would recognize that our demands are not just fair but are in the interest of the public and our those we treat and would also help stop our doctors departing from the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
Further information will follow shortly.
