Junior Physicians in the UK to Begin Five-Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in England are set to begin a five consecutive day strike next month, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors will strike for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, urging the health secretary to resolve the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“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 shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the minister to understand that a agreement offering solutions to slowly restore the pay reductions over a number of years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the government would see that our asks are not just fair but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors departing from the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or as many as three years in general practice.
Further information will follow shortly.
