Resident Physicians in England to Begin Five-Day Walkout Next Month
Doctors in the UK are preparing to stage a five consecutive day strike next month, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The BMA announced that junior physicians will strike for five consecutive days 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 failed negotiations with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
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 resolve the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“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 shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the minister to understand that a deal including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, providing newly trained doctors a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the government would see that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our physicians leaving the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in primary care.
More details are expected soon.
