Junior Doctors in the UK to Begin Five-Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in the UK are set to stage a five-day walkout in November, in protest over pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that junior physicians will walk out for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who constitute about half of all doctors in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, urging the health secretary to resolve the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in the UK are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the health secretary to understand that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, giving recent graduates a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the government would see that our asks are not just fair but are in the best interests of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
Further information will follow shortly.