Junior Physicians in the UK to Launch Five-Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in the UK are set to stage a five consecutive day strike in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The BMA stated that junior physicians will walk out for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all doctors in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMAâs resident doctors committee stated, âThis is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, pressing the health secretary to end the crisis of doctors going unemployed.â
âWe know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and hospital shifts remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.â
He continued, âWe negotiated sincerely, hoping the minister to see that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, giving recent graduates a pay increase of only ÂŁ1 per hour for the coming four years.â
âWe hoped the government would recognize that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the community and our those we treat and would also help prevent our doctors departing from the health service.â
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight yearsâ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.
Further information are expected soon.
