Resident Physicians in England to Launch Five-Day Walkout in November
Doctors in England are preparing to stage a five-day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The BMA stated that junior physicians will walk out for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Junior physicians, who make up about half of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the government.
Causes of the Walkout
Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, urging the health secretary to resolve the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”
“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the minister to see that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, giving recent graduates a raise of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the government would see that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help stop our doctors leaving the health service.”
About Resident Doctors
Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or as many as three years in primary care.
Further information will follow shortly.