Junior Doctors in England to Launch Five-Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to begin a five consecutive day strike in November, in protest over pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that resident doctors will walk out for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “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 crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in the UK are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the minister to see that a deal including options to slowly restore the pay reductions over a number of years, giving recent graduates a raise 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 those we treat and would also help prevent our physicians leaving the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in general practice.
Further information are expected soon.
