Junior Doctors in the UK to Stage Five-Day Strike Next Month
Doctors in England are preparing to stage a five-day strike next month, in protest over jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that junior physicians will strike for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who constitute nearly 50% of all doctors in the NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “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 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 skills going to waste whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals remain vacant. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the health secretary to see that a deal including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, giving recent graduates a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would see that our asks are not just fair but are in the interest of the community and our those we treat and would also help prevent our physicians departing from the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.
Further information are expected shortly.
