Junior Doctors in England to Launch Five Consecutive Day Walkout in November
Doctors in England are preparing to begin a five consecutive day strike in November, in protest over pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The BMA stated that junior physicians 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 National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, pressing the health minister to resolve the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the minister to see that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, giving newly trained doctors a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the government would recognize that our demands are not just fair but are in the best interests of the public and our those we treat and would also help stop our doctors leaving the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or as many as three years in general practice.
Further information are expected soon.