Junior Doctors in the UK to Launch Five-Day Walkout Next Month
Medical professionals in the UK are set to stage a five consecutive 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 November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who make up nearly 50% of all doctors in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, urging the health minister to resolve the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the health secretary to understand that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, providing newly trained doctors a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We hoped the government would see that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the community and our those we treat and would also help prevent our doctors departing from the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or up to three years in primary care.
Further information will follow soon.