Junior Physicians in England to Begin Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month
Doctors in England are preparing to stage a five-day strike in November, in protest over pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that junior physicians will strike for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who make up about half of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, pressing the health secretary to resolve the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in England are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the minister to see that a agreement including options to slowly restore the pay reductions over a number of years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the government would see that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the public and our patients and would also help prevent our physicians departing from the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or as many as three years in general practice.
More details will follow soon.
