Resident Physicians in the UK to Stage Five Consecutive Day Strike in November

Doctors in England are set to begin a five-day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.

Strike Details

The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that junior physicians will strike for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.

Resident doctors, who make up about half 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 commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with government, urging the health secretary 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 countless individuals endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”

He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to see that a deal including options to slowly restore the pay reductions over several years, providing recent graduates a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”

“We trusted the authorities would see that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help stop our physicians departing from the health service.”

Who Are Resident Physicians?

Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or as many as three years in general practice.

More details are expected shortly.