Junior Doctors in the UK to Stage Five Consecutive Day Walkout in November
Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to stage a five consecutive day walkout in November, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Strike Details
The BMA announced that junior physicians will strike for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to 7am on 19 November.
Resident doctors, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, urging the health secretary to resolve the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in England are facing unemployment, 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 see that a deal offering solutions to slowly restore the cuts to pay over several years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the government would see that our demands are not just fair but are in the interest of the public and our patients and would also help stop our physicians leaving the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
More details are expected soon.
