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

Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to begin a five-day strike next month, due to disputes regarding pay and employment.

Walkout Information

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

Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the health department.

Reasons Behind the Strike

Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, pressing the health secretary to resolve the crisis of unemployed physicians.”

“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts 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 see that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the next four years.”

“We hoped the government 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

Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.

More details will follow soon.