🔗 Share this article Resident Physicians in the UK to Stage Five Consecutive Day Walkout in November Doctors in the UK are preparing to begin a five consecutive day walkout in November, in protest over pay and employment. Walkout Information The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that junior physicians will strike for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am. Junior physicians, who constitute nearly 50% of all doctors in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the health department. Reasons Behind the Strike Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with government, pressing the health secretary to resolve the scandal of doctors going unemployed.” “Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.” He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to see that a deal including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, providing recent graduates a raise of only £1 per 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 community and our those we treat and would also help prevent our physicians leaving the health service.” Who Are Resident Physicians? Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in primary care. Further information will follow shortly.