Resident Physicians in England to Begin Five-Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in England are preparing to stage a five-day strike in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The BMA stated that resident doctors will strike for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who make up about half of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations 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 government, urging the health secretary to resolve the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in the UK are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the minister to see that a agreement including options to slowly restore the cuts to pay over several years, providing recent graduates a raise of only £1 per hour for the next 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 patients and would also help stop our physicians leaving the NHS.”
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.
More details are expected soon.
