Resident Physicians in the UK to Begin Five-Day Walkout in November
Doctors in England are set to begin a five-day walkout in November, in protest over pay and employment.
Strike Details
The BMA stated that junior physicians will walk out 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 doctors in the NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, urging the health secretary to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts remain vacant. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the health secretary to see that a deal offering solutions to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, giving recent graduates a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the government would recognize that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the community and our those we treat and would also help stop our doctors departing from the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or as many as three years in primary care.
Further information will follow soon.
