Resident Physicians in the UK to Launch Five-Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in England are preparing to stage a five-day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The BMA announced that resident doctors will strike for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, pressing the health minister to end the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in England are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts remain vacant. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the minister to see that a deal including options to slowly restore the cuts to pay over a number of years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the government would see 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 stop our physicians leaving the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or as many as three years in primary care.
Further information are expected shortly.