Resident Doctors in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month
Doctors in England are set to begin a five consecutive day strike next month, in protest over jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The BMA announced that resident doctors will strike for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who make up about half of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks 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 government, urging the health minister to resolve the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused 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 talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to see that a deal offering solutions to slowly restore the cuts to pay over several years, giving recent graduates a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We hoped the authorities would see that our demands are not just fair but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors departing from the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or up to three years in general practice.
Further information will follow soon.
