Resident Physicians in England to Begin Five Consecutive Day Walkout Next Month
Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to begin a five consecutive day walkout in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The BMA stated that resident doctors will walk out for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Resident doctors, who make up about half of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the government.
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 officials, urging the health minister to resolve the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste 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, hoping the health secretary to understand that a agreement including options to slowly restore the cuts to pay over several years, giving recent graduates a raise of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the authorities would see that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our physicians leaving the health service.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or up to three years in primary care.
More details will follow soon.
