Resident Physicians in the UK to Launch Five Consecutive Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in England are set to begin a five-day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The BMA stated that junior physicians will strike for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Resident doctors, who constitute about half of all doctors in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher 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 doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in England are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
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 cuts to pay over several years, providing recent graduates a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the government would recognize that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our physicians leaving the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or as many as three years in general practice.
Further information will follow shortly.