Junior Doctors in the UK to Begin Five Consecutive Day Walkout in November

Doctors in England are preparing to begin a five consecutive day walkout in November, in protest over jobs and pay.

Walkout Information

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

Junior physicians, who make up about half of all doctors in the NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the health department.

Causes of the Walkout

Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “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 crisis of unemployed physicians.”

“We know from our own survey half of second-year doctors in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts remain vacant. This cannot continue.”

He added, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the health secretary to understand that a deal including options to slowly restore the cuts to pay over a number of years, providing recent graduates a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.”

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

Who Are Resident Physicians?

Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in primary care.

More details will follow shortly.