Resident Doctors in England to Launch Five Consecutive Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in England are set to begin a five consecutive day strike in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The BMA stated that junior physicians will walk out for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, pressing the health minister to end the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and hospital shifts remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the health secretary 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 next four years.”
“We hoped the government would see that our asks are not just fair but are in the best interests of the community and our those we treat and would also help stop our doctors departing from the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.
Further information will follow shortly.
