Resident Doctors in England to Begin Five-Day Strike in November
Doctors in England are preparing to stage a five consecutive day strike in November, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The BMA stated that junior physicians will strike for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all doctors in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, pressing the health secretary to end the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in England are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to see that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, providing newly trained doctors a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would recognize that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the public and our patients and would also help prevent our physicians departing from the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.
More details will follow shortly.
