Resident Physicians in England to Stage Five-Day Walkout Next Month
Medical professionals in England are preparing to stage a five consecutive day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding 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 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who constitute about half of all doctors in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, pressing the health secretary to end the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are struggling to find jobs, 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, hoping the health secretary to understand that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, providing newly trained doctors a raise 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 best interests of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or up to three years in primary care.
Further information will follow shortly.
