Resident Physicians in England to Launch Five-Day Walkout Next Month
Doctors in England are preparing to begin a five consecutive day walkout in November, in protest over jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that junior physicians will walk out for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who make up about half of all doctors in the NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, urging the health secretary to resolve the crisis 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 countless individuals endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to see that a deal offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over a number of years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would see that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the community and our those we treat and would also help prevent our doctors departing from the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or up to three years in general practice.
More details will follow shortly.
