Junior Physicians in England to Begin Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month

Medical professionals in England are preparing to begin a five consecutive day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.

Strike Details

The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that junior physicians will walk out for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.

Resident doctors, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks 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 spent the last week in talks with officials, urging the health secretary 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 millions of patients endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”

He added, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the minister to see that a deal including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”

“We trusted the government would see that our demands 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

Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.

More details are expected soon.

Carl Goodwin
Carl Goodwin

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