🔗 Share this article Junior Physicians in the UK to Stage Five Consecutive Day Strike Next Month Doctors in the UK are preparing to stage a five-day walkout next month, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay. Walkout Information The BMA stated that junior physicians will strike for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am. Junior physicians, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the government. Reasons Behind the Strike Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, pressing the health minister to resolve the scandal of doctors going unemployed.” “We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.” He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the minister to see that a agreement including options to gradually reverse the pay reductions over a number of years, providing recent graduates a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.” “We trusted the government 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 doctors departing from the health service.” Who Are Resident Physicians? Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or as many as three years in primary care. Further information will follow shortly.