Resident Physicians in England to Stage Five Consecutive Day Walkout Next Month
Medical professionals in England are set to begin a five-day strike next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The BMA announced that junior physicians will strike for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
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 officials, urging the health secretary to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey 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 is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the health secretary to understand that a deal offering solutions to slowly restore the pay reductions over several years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the authorities would see that our asks are not just fair but are in the best interests of the public and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors departing from the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.
More details are expected shortly.
