Junior Doctors in the UK to Launch Five Consecutive Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in England are set to begin a five consecutive day walkout in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The BMA stated that junior physicians 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 doctors in the NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, urging the health minister to end the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in England are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to see that a deal including options to slowly restore the pay reductions over several years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the government would see that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in primary care.
More details will follow shortly.