Resident Physicians in England to Stage Five Consecutive Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in the UK are set to stage a five consecutive day walkout next month, in protest over jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The BMA stated that resident doctors will strike for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who constitute nearly 50% of all doctors in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with government, pressing the health secretary to resolve the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in England are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the health secretary to see that a agreement offering solutions to slowly restore the pay reductions over a number of years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We hoped the government would recognize that our asks are not just fair but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors departing from the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or as many as three years in primary care.
More details will follow soon.
