Resident Doctors in the UK to Launch Five Consecutive Day Walkout in November

Doctors in the UK are set to stage a five consecutive day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.

Strike Details

The BMA announced that resident doctors will strike for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to 7am on 19 November.

Junior physicians, who constitute nearly 50% of all doctors in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike 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, urging the health minister to resolve the crisis of unemployed physicians.”

“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”

He added, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to see that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over a number of years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”

“We trusted the authorities would recognize that our asks are not just fair but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the health service.”

About Resident Doctors

Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in general practice.

Further information will follow soon.