Junior Physicians in England to Launch Five Consecutive Day Walkout Next Month
Medical professionals in England are preparing to begin a five consecutive day strike in November, in protest over pay and employment.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated 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 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, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, pressing the health minister to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the health secretary to understand that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over a number of years, providing newly trained doctors a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We hoped the authorities would see that our asks are not just fair but are in the best interests of the community and our those we treat and would also help stop our physicians leaving the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.
More details will follow soon.
