Resident Physicians in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Walkout in November
Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to begin a five-day walkout in November, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors will strike for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with government, pressing the health minister to resolve the scandal 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 talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to see that a deal offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, providing recent graduates a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the authorities would recognize that our asks are not just fair but are in the best interests of the public and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the health service.”
About Resident Doctors
Junior physicians 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 will follow soon.