Junior Doctors in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month
Medical professionals in the UK are set to begin a five-day walkout 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 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who constitute about half of all doctors in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, urging the health secretary to resolve the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the minister to understand that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, giving recent graduates a raise of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the government would recognize that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or up to three years in general practice.
More details are expected soon.