Resident Physicians in England to Launch Five Consecutive Day Walkout Next Month

Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to begin a five-day strike next month, in protest over jobs and pay.

Strike Details

The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that resident doctors will walk out for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am.

Resident doctors, who make up nearly 50% of all doctors in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the government.

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 officials, urging the health minister to resolve the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”

“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”

He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the health secretary to understand that a deal including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of 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 demands are not just fair but are in the best interests of the community and our those we treat and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the health service.”

About Resident Doctors

Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.

Further information are expected shortly.