Resident Physicians in England to Stage Five-Day Walkout in November

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

Walkout Information

The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that resident doctors will walk out 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 doctors in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the government.

Causes of the Walkout

The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, pressing the health minister to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”

“Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”

He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to understand that a deal including options to slowly restore the pay reductions over a number of years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”

“We hoped the authorities would see that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help prevent our physicians leaving the health service.”

Who Are Resident Physicians?

Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in general practice.

Further information are expected soon.