UK Doctors to Strike Again Over Pay and Job Security

Thousands of doctors in England are planning to strike again this month, protesting issues with pay and job security.

The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors – previously known as junior doctors – will begin a five-day strike action starting at 7am on December 17th and concluding at 7am on December 22nd.

This marks the 14th strike by doctors as March 2023. A similar five-day strike last month raised concerns that the NHS might need to reduce frontline staff and limit appointments and operations if the strikes persist.

The BMA states that resident doctors are being forced “away from jobs and to the picket line” due to the governmentS failure to present a “credible offer on jobs or pay.”

Dr. Jack Fletcher, chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee, explained: “With the government failing to put forward a credible plan to fix the jobs crisis for resident doctors at the same time as pushing a real-terms pay cut for them, we have no choice but to announce more strike dates.”

“However, these do not need to go ahead. Gradually raising pay over a few years and some common sense fixes to the job security of our doctors are well within the reach of this government. It would ensure both the long-term strength of our healthcare workforce and spare the country the indignity of seeing unemployed doctors at a time patients are queuing up to even see a GP.”