Junior Physicians in England to Stage Five Consecutive Day Walkout Next Month
Doctors in England are set to stage a five-day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The BMA stated that junior physicians will walk out for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up about half of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with government, pressing the health secretary to resolve the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are facing unemployment, 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 minister to see that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over a number of years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the government would recognize that our asks are not just fair but are in the interest of the public and our those we treat and would also help stop our doctors leaving the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.
More details will follow shortly.
