Resident Doctors in the UK to Stage Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month
Doctors in the UK are preparing to begin a five consecutive day walkout next month, in protest over pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors will strike for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Resident doctors, who make up about half of all doctors in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, urging the health minister to resolve the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the health secretary to understand that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, providing newly trained doctors a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the government would recognize that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help stop our physicians departing from the health service.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in primary care.
Further information are expected shortly.
