Junior Physicians in England to Begin Five-Day Strike Next Month
Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to begin a five-day strike next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The BMA announced that junior physicians will walk out for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who make up about half of all doctors in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with government, urging the health minister to resolve the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused 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 understand that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, giving newly trained doctors a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We hoped the government would see that our demands are not just reasonable 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?
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.
More details will follow soon.
