Which dates are resident doctors going on strike as British Medical Association confirms walk-out
Resident doctors in the UK will go on strike later this month, it has been announced.
The British Medical Association (BMA) has confirmed that the resident doctors will stage a walk-out from December 17 to December 22, amid an ongoing dispute over jobs and pay.
Resident doctors are those who are going through post-graduate training to become specialists or general practitioners (GPs). Prior to a name change in 2024, they held the title of junior doctors.
According to the BMA, new evidence has proven that thousands of doctors were turned away from internal medicine training posts, with places now so restricted that candidates could have a PhD, have authored a medical textbook chapter and published a scientific paper and still not even get an interview.
Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the BMA's resident doctors committee, said: “With the government failing to put forward a credible plan to fix the jobs crisis for resident doctors at the same time as pushing a real terms pay cut for them, we have no choice but to announce more strike dates.
“However, these do not need to go ahead. Gradually raising pay over a few years and some common-sense fixes to the job security of our doctors are well within the reach of this government.
“It would ensure both the long-term strength of our healthcare workforce and spare the country the indignity of see unemployed doctors at a time patients are queuing up to even even see a GP.
“This month we’ve seen the full farcical extent of the jobs crisis, with second-year doctors applying for training posts being asked to provide evidence of experience well beyond what would have previously been asked of them.
“It is precisely this sort of situation which is driving doctors away from jobs and to the picket line. But it is not too late for government to get a grip on the situation.”