Latest news with #doctorsprotest
BBC News
25-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Resident doctors in the West Midlands begin strike over pay
Doctors across the West Midlands have begun five days of strike action over a pay dispute with the of resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors, took to the picket line outside Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on government awarded doctors a 5.4% pay rise for this financial year, but the British Medical Association (BMA), who organised the walkout, said wages were still about 20% lower in real terms than in Ben Cowdry, 25, told the BBC working conditions were "poor" and that doctors regularly had to "stay after hours". "These life and death decisions we are making, yes they are part of the job but we deserve to be respected and remunerated appropriately for that, and £23 an hour is not an unreasonable ask," he walkout by resident doctors began at 07:00 BST on Friday and is set to last until 07:00 BST on 30 New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton and Cannock Chase Hospital, bosses said there had been 236 appointment cancellations for patients, 110 of which were and senior doctors are covering for resident doctors, who are striking for the 12th time over payDr Brian McCaig, chief medical officer, said they had been through a "number of strikes before" and the hospital needed to prioritise emergency medical care."In terms of planning, we need to first of all prioritise urgent and emergency care and obviously time critical work, such as cancer work and priority operations," he said."Once we've been able to cover those, we then see what activity we can continue with but inevitably, with the industrial action we do need to cancel some activity."One patient, Dave Williams, who was admitted to the hospital with heart problems, said he agreed with the resident doctors strike."They're not paid enough," he told the BBC. "I mean nurses... and doctors, if they all downed tools totally and said right we want more money, the government would have to pay them." Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Free Malaysia Today
14-07-2025
- Health
- Free Malaysia Today
South Korea's medical students end 17-month class boycott
Doctors were protesting against the South Korean government's medical policy in Seoul. (EPA Images pic) SEOUL : Thousands of South Korean medical students are set to return to classrooms after a 17-month boycott, an industry body told AFP Monday, ending part of a standoff which also saw junior doctors strike. South Korean healthcare was plunged into chaos early last year when then-president Yoon Suk Yeol moved to sharply increase medical school admissions, citing an urgent need to boost doctor numbers to meet growing demand in a rapidly ageing society. The initiative met fierce protest, prompting junior doctors to walk away from hospitals and medical students to boycott their classrooms, with operations cancelled and service provision disrupted nationwide. The measure was later watered down, and the government eventually offered to scrap it in March 2025, after Yoon was impeached over his disastrous declaration of martial law. 'Students have agreed to return to school,' a spokesperson for the Korean Medical Association told AFP Monday, adding that it was up to each medical school to decide the schedule for student returns. The Korean Medical Students' Association said in an earlier statement that the students had reached this decision because a continued boycott 'could cause the collapse of the fundamentals of medical systems'. Some 8,300 students are expected to return to school, but no specific timeline has been provided. Prime minister Kim Min-seok welcomed the decision, calling it a 'big step forward' in a Facebook post Sunday, adding president Lee Jae Myung was deliberating ways to solve the issue. In addition to the student boycott, some 12,000 junior doctors went on strike last year – with the vast majority of them still declining to return to work. Lee – who took office in June after winning snap elections following Yoon's removal from office – had said on the campaign trail he would seek to resolve the medical strike. The increase in medical school admissions led to a record number of students re-taking the college entrance exam in November in a bid to capitalise on reforms that made it easier to get into coveted majors.
