Resident Physicians in England to Begin Five-Day Strike in November

Doctors in England are preparing to begin a five consecutive day strike in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay.

Strike Details

The BMA stated 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 National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the government.

Causes of the Walkout

Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, pressing the health secretary to end the crisis of unemployed physicians.”

“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.”

He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to see that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, providing recent graduates a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”

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

About Resident Doctors

Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or as many as three years in general practice.

More details are expected soon.