Resident Physicians in the UK to Launch Five-Day Strike Next Month

Medical professionals in the UK are set to stage a five consecutive day strike next month, in protest over jobs and pay.

Strike Details

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

Junior physicians, who constitute about half of all doctors in the National Health Service, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the government.

Causes of the Walkout

Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “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 scandal of doctors going unemployed.”

“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This cannot continue.”

He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to see that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over a number of years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”

“We trusted the government would recognize that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the public and our patients and would also help stop our physicians departing from the health service.”

Who Are Resident Physicians?

Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or as many as three years in general practice.

Further information are expected soon.