Junior Doctors in the UK to Stage Five-Day Walkout in November
Medical professionals in the UK are set to begin a five-day strike in November, in protest over jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The BMA stated that resident doctors will walk out for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, urging the health minister to end the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to see that a agreement offering solutions to slowly restore the cuts to pay over several years, giving newly trained doctors a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the government would see that our demands are not just fair but are in the best interests of the public and our those we treat and would also help stop our doctors leaving the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or as many as three years in general practice.
Further information are expected soon.
