Junior Doctors in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month
Medical professionals in the UK are set to begin a five consecutive day strike next month, in protest over jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that junior physicians will strike for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who constitute about half of all medical staff in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Reasons Behind the Strike
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 minister to resolve the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and hospital shifts remain vacant. This cannot continue.”
He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to see that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, providing recent graduates a raise of just a pound an 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 NHS.”
About Resident Doctors
Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or up to three years in general practice.
Further information are expected soon.
