Junior Doctors in England to Begin Five-Day Walkout Next Month
Doctors in England are preparing to begin a five-day walkout in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that junior physicians will walk out for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who constitute nearly 50% of all doctors in the National Health Service, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, urging the health minister to end the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey 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 slowly restore the cuts to pay over several years, providing recent graduates a raise of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted 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 stop our physicians leaving the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or up to three years in general practice.
Further information will follow soon.
