Resident Doctors in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Strike in November

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

Walkout Information

The BMA announced that resident doctors will strike for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.

Resident doctors, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the health department.

Causes of the Walkout

Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, urging the health minister to end the crisis of doctors going unemployed.”

“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts remain vacant. This cannot continue.”

He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the minister to understand that a deal offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, providing newly trained doctors a raise 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 best interests of the community and our those we treat and would also help stop our physicians departing from the health service.”

About Resident Doctors

Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.

Further information will follow soon.