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

Walkout Information

The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors will strike for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.

Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all doctors in the National Health Service, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the health department.

Reasons Behind the Strike

Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with government, urging the health secretary to end the scandal of doctors going unemployed.”

“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts remain vacant. This cannot continue.”

He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to understand that a agreement offering solutions to gradually reverse the pay reductions over several years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”

“We trusted the government would recognize that our demands are not just fair but are in the best interests of the public and our patients and would also help stop our physicians departing from the health service.”

Who Are Resident Physicians?

Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or as many as three years in primary care.

Further information are expected shortly.