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

Medical professionals in England are set to stage a five-day walkout in November, in protest over jobs and pay.

Strike Details

The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that junior physicians will walk out for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.

Resident doctors, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government.

Causes of the Walkout

Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, urging the health secretary to resolve the scandal of unemployed physicians.”

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

He added, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to understand that a deal offering solutions to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.”

“We hoped the government would recognize that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the public and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the health service.”

Who Are Resident Physicians?

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

Further information are expected soon.