Resident Doctors in the UK to Launch Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month
Medical professionals in the UK are set to begin a five consecutive day walkout next month, in protest over pay and employment.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that junior physicians will strike for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who constitute about half of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
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 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 talents being unused whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the minister to see that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, providing recent graduates a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the government would see that our demands are not just fair but are in the best interests of the community and our those we treat and would also help prevent our physicians leaving the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
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 general practice.
More details are expected shortly.
