Resident Physicians in England to Launch Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month
Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to stage a five consecutive day walkout 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 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with government, urging the health secretary to resolve the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment 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 see that a deal including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the government would recognize that our demands are not just fair but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our physicians leaving the health service.”
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.
More details are expected soon.
