🔗 Share this article Junior Doctors in the UK to Stage Five-Day Strike Next Month Medical professionals in England are preparing to begin a five consecutive day strike in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay. Strike Details The BMA stated that resident doctors will strike for five days in a row from November 14 at 7am to November 19 at 7am. Junior physicians, who constitute nearly 50% of all medical staff in the National Health Service, are taking this action after failed negotiations with the government. Reasons Behind the Strike Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “We did not want to reach this point. We have been negotiating for the past week with government, urging the health minister to resolve the crisis of unemployed physicians.” “Our survey reveals half of second-year doctors in the UK are facing unemployment, their talents being unused whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.” He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, keen for the minister to see that a agreement including options to slowly restore the cuts to pay over several years, giving newly trained doctors a raise 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 interest of the community and our patients and would also help stop our doctors departing from the health service.” Who Are Resident Physicians? Junior physicians have anywhere up to eight years’ experience practicing in hospitals, depending on their specialty, or as many as three years in general practice. Further information are expected shortly.