Resident Doctors in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Walkout Next Month
Doctors in the UK are preparing to stage a five-day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.
Walkout Information
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors will walk out for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.
Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all doctors in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
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 government, pressing the health minister 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 skills going to waste whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals remain vacant. This cannot continue.”
He added, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to understand that a deal including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, giving recent graduates a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”
“We hoped the authorities would recognize that our asks are not just fair but are in the best interests of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the health service.”
Who Are Resident Physicians?
Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in general practice.
More details are expected soon.