Junior Physicians in England to Launch Five-Day Strike Next Month

Medical professionals in England are preparing to begin a five consecutive day strike next month, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.

Walkout Information

The BMA stated that resident doctors will strike for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am 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 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 government, pressing the health minister to resolve the crisis 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 countless individuals endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”

He added, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the minister to see that a deal offering solutions to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over a number of years, providing newly trained doctors a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”

“We trusted the government would recognize that our asks are not just fair but are in the interest of the public and our patients and would also help stop our doctors leaving the NHS.”

About Resident Doctors

Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or up to three years in primary care.

More details will follow shortly.