Resident Physicians in England to Launch Five-Day Walkout in November
Doctors in the UK are set to begin a five-day walkout in November, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that junior physicians will strike for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up about half of all doctors in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
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 officials, pressing the health minister to resolve the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and hospital shifts remain vacant. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to see that a deal including options to slowly restore the pay reductions over a number of years, giving recent graduates a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the government would see that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the community and our those we treat and would also help prevent our physicians leaving the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in general practice.
Further information will follow soon.
