🔗 Share this article Junior Doctors in England to Begin Five Consecutive Day Walkout Next Month Doctors in the UK are preparing to stage a five consecutive day walkout in November, due to disputes regarding pay and employment. Walkout Information The British Medical Association (BMA) stated that resident doctors will walk out for five consecutive days from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November. Junior physicians, who make up nearly 50% of all doctors in the NHS, are taking this action after unsuccessful talks with the health department. Reasons Behind the Strike The chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee stated, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, urging the health secretary to resolve the crisis 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 endure long waits for care and hospital shifts go unfilled. This cannot continue.” He added, “We negotiated sincerely, hoping the health secretary to see that a deal including options to slowly restore the pay reductions over a number of years, providing recent graduates a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the next four years.” “We trusted the government would see that our demands are not just fair but are in the interest of the community and our those we treat and would also help prevent our doctors departing from the health service.” About Resident Doctors Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, based on their field, or as many as three years in primary care. More details are expected shortly.