Resident Physicians in England to Stage Five Consecutive Day Strike in November
Doctors in England are preparing to stage a five-day walkout in November, in protest over pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The BMA announced that resident doctors will walk out for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with government, urging the health secretary to resolve the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to understand 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 next four years.”
“We trusted the government would recognize that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help stop our physicians leaving the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
Further information are expected shortly.
