🔗 Share this article Resident Physicians in the UK to Launch Five Consecutive Day Strike in November Doctors in England are preparing to stage a five consecutive day strike in November, in protest over jobs and pay. Strike Details The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors will strike for five consecutive days from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am. Resident doctors, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the NHS, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government. Reasons Behind the Strike The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “We did not want to reach this point. We have spent the last week in talks with government, urging the health minister to end the crisis of doctors going unemployed.” “Our survey reveals 50% of second-year physicians in England are struggling to find jobs, their talents being unused whilst countless individuals endure long waits for care and hospital shifts remain vacant. This cannot continue.” He continued, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the minister to understand that a deal including options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, providing recent graduates a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.” “We hoped the government would see that our demands are not just reasonable but are in the interest of the community and our patients and would also help stop our doctors leaving the NHS.” Who Are Resident Physicians? Junior physicians have as much as eight years of experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or as many as three years in primary care. More details will follow shortly.