Junior Physicians in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Walkout in November
Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to stage a five consecutive day strike in November, in protest over jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The BMA announced that junior physicians will walk out for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all doctors in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike 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, pressing the health minister to end 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 talents being unused whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the minister to see that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, providing recent graduates a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would see that our demands are not just fair but are in the interest of the public and our patients and would also help stop our doctors departing from the health service.”
About Resident Doctors
Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
More details will follow soon.
