Resident Physicians in England to Stage Five-Day Strike in November
Doctors in England are set to begin a five-day walkout in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that junior physicians will strike 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 National Health Service, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, urging the health minister to end the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to see that a agreement offering solutions to slowly restore the pay reductions over several years, providing recent graduates a raise of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted 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 NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or as many as three years in primary care.
More details are expected shortly.
