🔗 Share this article Resident Doctors in the UK to Begin Five-Day Walkout in November Doctors in England are set to stage a five consecutive day strike in November, in protest over jobs and pay. Walkout Information The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors will walk out for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am. Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all medical staff 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 stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, urging the health minister to end the crisis of unemployed physicians.” “Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and hospital shifts remain vacant. This is a situation which cannot go on.” He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the minister to understand that a agreement including options to slowly restore the cuts to pay over a number of years, providing newly trained doctors a raise of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.” “We hoped the government would see 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 doctors departing from the health service.” Who Are Resident Physicians? Resident doctors have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in primary care. Further information are expected shortly.