Junior Doctors in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Walkout in November
Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to begin a five consecutive day strike in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The BMA announced that resident doctors will walk out for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with government, pressing the health secretary to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“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 shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to see that a deal including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, giving recent graduates a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would recognize that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our physicians departing from the health service.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
Further information are expected soon.
