Junior Physicians in England to Launch Five-Day Strike Next Month
Doctors in England are preparing to begin a five consecutive day walkout in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors will strike for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all doctors in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the health department.
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 government, urging the health secretary to end the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in England are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the minister to see that a deal offering solutions to slowly restore the pay reductions over several years, giving recent graduates a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the government would recognize that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our physicians leaving the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in primary care.
Further information are expected soon.
