Resident Doctors in England to Begin Five Consecutive Day Walkout Next Month
Medical professionals in the UK are set to begin a five consecutive day walkout in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that resident doctors will walk out for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who make up nearly 50% of all doctors in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, pressing the health minister to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK 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 negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to understand that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, giving recent graduates a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the government would recognize that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the public and our those we treat and would also help stop our doctors departing from the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or up to three years in primary care.
Further information are expected soon.
