Junior Doctors in the UK to Stage Five Consecutive Day Strike in November
Doctors in the UK are preparing to begin a five-day walkout 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 doctors in the NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, urging the health minister to resolve the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and hospital shifts remain vacant. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the minister to see that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, providing recent graduates a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would recognize that our asks are not just fair but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors 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.
