Junior Doctors in England to Stage Five-Day Strike in November
Doctors in the UK are preparing to begin a five consecutive day walkout next month, in protest over jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors will strike for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with government, pressing the health minister 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 wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the health secretary to understand that a deal offering solutions to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, giving recent graduates 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 interest of the community 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 practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or as many as three years in primary care.
Further information are expected soon.
