Resident Physicians in England to Stage Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month
Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to begin a five consecutive day walkout in November, in protest over jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that junior physicians will strike for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am 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 health department.
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 government, pressing the health minister to end the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to see that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, giving recent graduates a raise of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would recognize that our demands are not just fair but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help stop our doctors leaving 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 as many as three years in primary care.
Further information will follow shortly.
