Resident Physicians in England to Stage Five Consecutive Day Strike in November
Medical professionals in England are preparing to begin a five-day strike in November, 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 November 14 at 7am to 7am on 19 November.
Resident doctors, who make up about half of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “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 scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in England are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals remain vacant. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the minister to understand that a deal offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the government would recognize that our demands are not just fair but are in the best interests of the community and our those we treat and would also help prevent our doctors departing from the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
More details are expected shortly.
