Resident Physicians in England to Stage Five-Day Walkout Next Month
Medical professionals in England are preparing to stage a five-day strike in November, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Strike Details
The BMA stated that resident doctors will strike for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, pressing the health secretary to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals 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 cannot continue.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the minister to see that a deal including options to slowly restore the cuts to pay over several years, giving newly trained doctors a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the government would recognize that our asks are not just fair but are in the interest of the public and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the health service.”
About Resident Doctors
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.
Further information will follow shortly.
