Junior Physicians in the UK to Launch Five Consecutive Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to begin a five-day strike next month, in protest over jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The BMA stated 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 about half of all doctors in the NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, pressing the health secretary to resolve the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in England are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the minister to understand that a agreement offering solutions to slowly restore the cuts to pay over several years, providing newly trained doctors a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We hoped the government would recognize that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the public and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors 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.
More details are expected shortly.
