Junior Physicians in the UK to Launch Five-Day Strike Next Month
Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to stage a five consecutive day strike next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Strike Details
The BMA stated that resident doctors will walk out for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who make up about half of all doctors in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, pressing the health minister to end the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians 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 added, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the minister to understand that a deal including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over a number of years, giving recent graduates a raise of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We hoped the government would recognize that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the public and our those we treat and would also help stop our doctors leaving the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or as many as three years in general practice.
Further information are expected shortly.
