Junior Physicians in England to Launch Five Consecutive Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in England are preparing to stage a five-day walkout next month, in protest over pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The BMA stated that junior physicians will walk out 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 NHS, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, urging the health minister to end the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the health secretary to understand that a agreement offering solutions to slowly restore the cuts to pay over several years, giving recent graduates a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We hoped the authorities would see that our demands are not just fair but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors departing from the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or up to three years in primary care.
Further information will follow soon.
