Resident Physicians in England to Begin Five-Day Strike Next Month
Medical professionals in England are preparing to stage a five-day walkout next month, in protest over jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The BMA stated that resident doctors will walk out for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with government, pressing the health secretary to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to see that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, providing recent graduates a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the government would see that our demands are not just fair but are in the interest of the public and our patients and would also help prevent our physicians leaving the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
More details will follow soon.
