Resident Physicians in England to Stage Five-Day Walkout in November
Medical professionals in England are preparing to stage a five consecutive day walkout in November, in protest over pay and employment.
Strike Details
The BMA announced that junior physicians will walk out for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who make up about half of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Reasons Behind the Strike
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, pressing the health secretary to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to see that a agreement including options to slowly restore the cuts to pay over a number of years, providing newly trained doctors a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We hoped the government would see that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our doctors departing from the health service.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or as many as three years in general practice.
Further information are expected shortly.