Junior Physicians in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month
Medical professionals in England are set to stage a five consecutive day strike in November, in protest over pay and employment.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that resident doctors will strike for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who constitute about half of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, pressing the health secretary to end the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in England are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the minister to see that a deal including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over a number of years, giving recent graduates a raise of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would see that our demands are not just fair but are in the interest of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our physicians departing from the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or as many as three years in primary care.
Further information will follow shortly.
