🔗 Share this article Resident Physicians in the UK to Begin Five-Day Walkout in November Medical professionals in England are set to stage a five-day walkout in November, due to disputes regarding jobs and pay. Walkout Information The BMA announced that resident doctors will walk out for five days in a row from 7am on 14 November to November 19 at 7am. Resident doctors, who constitute about half of all medical staff in the NHS, are proceeding with the strike after unsuccessful talks with the health department. Reasons Behind the Strike Dr Jack Fletcher commented, “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with officials, pressing the health secretary to resolve the scandal of unemployed physicians.” “We know from our own survey 50% of second-year physicians in the UK are facing unemployment, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment and hospital shifts go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.” He continued, “We talked with the government in good faith, hoping the minister to see that a deal offering solutions to slowly restore the cuts to pay over a number of years, giving newly trained doctors a raise of just a pound an hour for the coming four years.” “We hoped the government would recognize that our demands are not just fair but are in the best interests of the public and our those we treat and would also help prevent our physicians departing from the NHS.” 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. More details are expected soon.