Resident Doctors in the UK to Stage Five Consecutive Day Strike in November
Doctors in the UK are set to begin a five consecutive day strike next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that resident doctors will strike for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, urging the health minister to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the health secretary to understand that a agreement offering solutions to slowly restore the cuts to pay over a number of years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the government would recognize that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help stop our physicians departing from the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in general practice.
Further information will follow soon.
