Junior Doctors in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Strike in November
Doctors in the UK are preparing to begin a five consecutive day walkout in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The BMA stated that junior physicians will strike for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, urging the health minister to end the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the health secretary to see that a agreement including options to slowly restore the pay reductions over several years, providing recent graduates 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 interest of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or up to three years in general practice.
Further information are expected soon.
