Resident Doctors in England to Launch Five Consecutive Day Strike in November
Doctors in the UK are preparing to stage a five-day walkout next month, in protest over jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors will walk out for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who constitute about half of all medical staff in the National Health Service, 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, pressing the health secretary to end the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the minister to see that a deal including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, giving newly trained doctors a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the government would recognize that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the public and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors departing from the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
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 general practice.
Further information will follow soon.
