Resident Doctors in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Walkout Next Month

Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to begin a five consecutive day walkout in November, in protest over jobs and pay.

Strike Details

The BMA stated that resident doctors will walk out for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am.

Resident doctors, who constitute nearly 50% of all doctors in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the health department.

Causes of the Walkout

Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, urging the health secretary to end the scandal of unemployed physicians.”

“Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK 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 continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the health secretary to understand that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, providing newly trained doctors a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the next four years.”

“We hoped the government would see that our demands are not just fair but are in the interest of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our doctors leaving the health service.”

Who Are Resident Physicians?

Junior physicians 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.

Erica Meyer
Erica Meyer

A tech journalist based in Stockholm, covering Nordic startups and digital transformation with over a decade of experience.