Resident Physicians in England to Stage Five Consecutive Day Walkout Next Month
Doctors in England are set to begin a five consecutive day walkout in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.
Walkout Information
The BMA stated that junior physicians will walk out for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to 7am on 19 November.
Resident doctors, who make up nearly 50% of all doctors in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the health department.
Causes of the Walkout
The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, urging the health minister to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”
“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to understand that a deal including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”
“We trusted the authorities would see that our demands are not just fair but are in the interest of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our physicians leaving the health service.”
About Resident Doctors
Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or up to three years in general practice.
Further information will follow soon.
