Resident Doctors in the UK to Launch Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month
Doctors in the UK are set to stage a five consecutive day strike next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors will strike for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike 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 been negotiating for the past week with government, pressing the health minister to resolve the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in England are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to understand that a agreement including options to slowly restore the pay reductions over several years, giving newly trained doctors a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would see that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help stop our physicians departing from the health service.”
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 are expected soon.