Junior Physicians in the UK to Launch Five-Day Walkout Next Month

Doctors in the UK are set to stage a five consecutive day walkout in November, in protest over pay and employment.

Walkout Information

The BMA announced that resident doctors 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 NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the health department.

Causes of the Walkout

Dr Jack Fletcher 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 unemployed physicians.”

“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in England are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”

He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to see that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”

“We trusted the government would see that our demands are not just fair but are in the best interests of the public and our patients and would also help stop our physicians departing from the health service.”

Who Are Resident Physicians?

Resident doctors 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 will follow soon.