Junior Physicians in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month

Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to begin a five-day strike in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.

Walkout Information

The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that resident doctors will strike for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to 7am on 19 November.

Junior physicians, who make up 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

The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, urging the health secretary to resolve the crisis of unemployed physicians.”

“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”

He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the minister to see that a deal including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, providing recent graduates a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”

“We hoped the government would recognize that our asks are not just fair but are in the interest of the community and our those we treat and would also help stop our doctors departing from the NHS.”

About Resident Doctors

Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in general practice.

Further information will follow shortly.