Junior Physicians in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Strike in November

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

Walkout Information

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

Resident doctors, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the health department.

Reasons Behind the Strike

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, pressing the health minister to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”

“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in England are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and hospital shifts remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”

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

“We hoped the government would recognize that our asks 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 departing from the NHS.”

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.

More details are expected shortly.