Resident Doctors in England to Launch Five Consecutive Day Walkout in November
Doctors in the UK are preparing to begin a five consecutive day strike next month, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The BMA stated that resident doctors will strike for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, 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 resolve the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in England are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the minister to understand that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over a number of years, giving recent graduates a raise of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would see that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our physicians leaving the health service.”
About Resident Doctors
Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or as many as three years in general practice.
More details are expected shortly.
