Junior Physicians in England to Launch Five-Day Strike Next Month
Doctors in England are set to stage a five-day strike next month, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The BMA announced that resident doctors will strike for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who constitute about half of all doctors in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, urging the health minister to resolve the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts remain vacant. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the health secretary to see that a deal including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the government would see that our asks are not just fair but are in the best interests of the community and our those we treat and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the health service.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or up to three years in general practice.
More details will follow soon.
