Resident Doctors in the UK to Stage Five-Day Strike Next Month
Medical professionals in England are preparing to stage a five-day walkout next month, in protest over pay and employment.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors will walk out for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with government, pressing the health secretary to resolve the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste 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 talked with the government in good faith, hoping the health secretary to understand that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, giving newly trained doctors a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the government would see that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the public and our patients and would also help prevent our physicians departing from the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.
Further information are expected shortly.
