Junior Physicians in the UK to Launch Five-Day Strike in November
Doctors in the UK are set to stage a five-day strike in November, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that resident doctors will walk out for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who constitute about half of all medical staff in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, urging the health secretary to end the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in England 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 talked with the government in good faith, hoping the health secretary to understand that a deal offering solutions to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the government would recognize that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our physicians departing from the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or up to three years in primary care.
Further information will follow shortly.
