Junior Doctors in the UK to Stage Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month
Doctors in the UK are set to begin a five consecutive day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Strike Details
The BMA stated that resident doctors will strike for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Resident doctors, who make up about half 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, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with government, urging the health secretary to resolve the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in England 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 added, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the health secretary to understand that a deal including options to slowly restore the pay reductions over several years, providing recent graduates a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would recognize that our asks are not just fair but are in the interest of the public and our patients and would also help stop our doctors departing from the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in general practice.
More details are expected shortly.
