Resident Physicians in the UK to Stage Five-Day Walkout Next Month
Doctors in England are preparing to begin a five consecutive day strike next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors will strike for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Resident doctors, who make up nearly 50% of all doctors in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with government, pressing the health minister to end the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals remain vacant. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the health secretary to see that a agreement offering solutions to slowly restore the cuts to pay over a number of years, giving recent graduates a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the authorities would recognize that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors departing from the health service.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
Further information are expected shortly.
