Junior Doctors in the UK to Launch Five-Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in England are set to begin a five-day walkout in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The BMA announced that junior physicians will strike for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Resident doctors, who constitute about half of all doctors in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
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 minister to end the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in England are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to understand that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would recognize 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 health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in primary care.
More details are expected soon.
