Resident Physicians in the UK to Launch Five-Day Strike Next Month
Doctors in the UK are set to begin a five-day strike next month, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Strike Details
The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that resident doctors will walk out for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Resident doctors, who constitute nearly 50% of all doctors in the National Health Service, 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, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, urging the health secretary to end the crisis of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to see that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over a number of years, giving 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 demands are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the community and our those we treat and would also help stop our doctors leaving the NHS.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.
More details are expected soon.
