🔗 Share this article Junior Physicians in England to Launch Five-Day Walkout in November Medical professionals in the UK are preparing to begin a five consecutive day strike next month, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay. Strike Details The BMA announced that junior physicians will strike for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November. Junior physicians, who constitute about half of all doctors in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the health department. Reasons Behind the Strike The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, urging the health secretary to resolve the scandal of unemployed physicians.” “Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.” He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the health secretary to see that a deal offering solutions to slowly restore the cuts to pay over a number of years, providing recent graduates a raise of only £1 per hour for the next four years.” “We trusted the government would recognize that our demands are not just fair but are in the interest of the public and our patients and would also help prevent our doctors departing from the NHS.” 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 primary care. More details will follow soon.