Junior Physicians in the UK to Launch Five Consecutive Day Walkout Next Month
Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to begin a five consecutive day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The BMA announced that junior physicians will walk out for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, pressing the health secretary to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in the UK are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the health secretary to understand that a deal offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, giving recent graduates a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the authorities would see that our demands are not just fair but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help stop our physicians departing from the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in general practice.
More details will follow shortly.
