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

Walkout Information

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

Resident doctors, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after failed negotiations with the government.

Causes of the Walkout

The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, urging the health secretary to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”

“We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in England are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.”

He added, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the minister to see that a deal offering solutions to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”

“We hoped the authorities would see that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the community and our patients and would also help stop our physicians departing from the health service.”

About Resident Doctors

Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in general practice.

Further information will follow shortly.