Resident Physicians in England to Stage Five-Day Strike Next Month
Medical professionals in England are set to stage a five consecutive day strike next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The 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 nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with government, urging the health minister to resolve the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the health secretary to see that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the government would see that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the public and our those we treat and would also help stop our doctors departing from the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in general practice.
Further information will follow soon.