Resident Physicians in the UK to Stage Five-Day Strike Next Month
Medical professionals in England are preparing to stage a five consecutive day walkout in November, in protest over jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that resident doctors will strike for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up about half of all doctors in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, pressing the health minister to end the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in England are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the health secretary to understand that a deal including options to slowly restore the cuts to pay over several years, providing recent graduates a raise of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We hoped the authorities would recognize that our asks are not just fair but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help stop our physicians leaving the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or up to three years in primary care.
More details will follow shortly.
