Junior Doctors in England to Begin Five-Day Walkout Next Month
Doctors in England are preparing to stage a five consecutive day walkout in November, in protest over pay and employment.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that resident doctors will walk out for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all doctors in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, urging the health minister to resolve the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in England are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the minister to understand that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, providing recent graduates a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the government would recognize that our demands are not just fair but are in the best interests of the public and our patients and would also help stop our physicians departing from the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or up to three years in general practice.
Further information will follow shortly.
