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

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

Walkout Information

The BMA announced that junior physicians will walk out for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.

Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the government.

Reasons Behind the Strike

Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with government, urging the health minister to resolve the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”

“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in England are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”

He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the health secretary to understand that a deal offering solutions to slowly restore the cuts to pay over a number of years, giving recent graduates a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”

“We trusted the authorities would recognize that our demands are not just fair but are in the interest of the public and our those we treat and would also help stop our physicians departing from the health service.”

Who Are Resident Physicians?

Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.

Further information will follow shortly.