Junior Physicians in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Walkout in November
Doctors in the UK are set to begin a five consecutive day walkout next month, in protest over pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The BMA announced that junior physicians will walk out for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Resident doctors, who constitute about half of all doctors in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, pressing the health minister to end the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the minister to understand that a agreement offering solutions to slowly restore the pay reductions over several years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We hoped the authorities would see that our asks are not just fair but are in the interest of the public and our patients and would also help stop our doctors leaving the NHS.”
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 will follow soon.
