Junior Doctors in England to Begin Five Consecutive Day Walkout Next Month
Doctors in England are preparing to begin a five-day walkout next month, in protest over jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The BMA stated that junior physicians will strike for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who make up about half of all doctors in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, urging the health minister to resolve the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts remain vacant. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the health secretary to understand that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over a number of 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 demands are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our doctors departing from the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.
Further information will follow soon.
