Resident Doctors in the UK to Begin Five-Day Strike Next Month
Doctors in England are preparing to stage a five consecutive day strike next month, in protest over jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The BMA stated that junior physicians will walk out for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who constitute about half of all doctors in the National Health Service, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, pressing the health minister to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in the UK are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the minister to see that a deal including options to slowly restore the cuts to pay over several years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We hoped the authorities would recognize that our asks are not just fair but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help stop our physicians departing from the health service.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors 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 will follow soon.
