🔗 Share this article Junior Physicians in the UK to Launch Five-Day Walkout in November Medical professionals in England are set to begin a five-day walkout next month, in protest over pay and employment. Strike Details The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that junior physicians will walk out 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 government. Reasons Behind the Strike Dr Jack Fletcher stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have been negotiating for the past week with officials, pressing the health secretary to resolve the scandal of doctors going unemployed.” “Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in England are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients endure long waits for care and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.” He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, keen for the health secretary to understand that a deal including options to slowly restore the cuts to pay over several years, giving recent graduates a pay increase of only £1 per hour for the coming four years.” “We trusted the government would see that our asks are not just fair but are in the best interests of the public and our patients and would also help stop our physicians leaving the NHS.” About Resident Doctors Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, based on their field, or as many as three years in general practice. More details will follow soon.