Junior Doctors in the UK to Launch Five-Day Strike Next Month
Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to begin a five consecutive day strike next month, in protest over 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.
Junior physicians, who make up about half of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with government, pressing the health secretary to end the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the minister to understand that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, providing recent graduates a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the government would recognize that our asks are not just fair but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help stop our doctors departing from the NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.
More details will follow shortly.
