Junior Physicians in England to Stage Five-Day Walkout in November
Doctors in the UK are set to stage a five consecutive day walkout in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that junior physicians will walk out for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who make up about half of all doctors in the NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations 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 officials, pressing the health secretary to resolve the scandal 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 countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the health secretary to see that a deal including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, giving recent graduates a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would recognize that our asks are not just fair but are in the best interests of the community and our those we treat and would also help stop our doctors leaving the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
More details will follow soon.
