Junior Doctors in the UK to Launch Five Consecutive Day Walkout Next Month
Doctors in the UK are set to stage a five-day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that resident doctors will walk out for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, 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 officials, pressing the health minister to resolve 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 health secretary to understand that a deal including options to slowly restore the pay reductions over a number of years, providing recent graduates a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would see that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help stop our physicians leaving the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or up to three years in general practice.
Further information are expected shortly.
