Resident Doctor Strikes – England, November 2025

The BMA is calling for a full walkout of resident doctors in England, starting:

• From 06:59 on Friday 14 November

• Until 06:59 on Wednesday 19 November

All resident doctors are asked not to begin shifts during this period.

There are three key areas to manage during the strike:

• Self-Assessment of Impact

• Unavailability Considerations

• Rostering Considerations

Following the notice of further Resident Doctor strikes, it is essential to manage and report on the impact both internally and externally. Tools such as Optima can help minimise disruption to core services.

Actions to take:

• Assigned Duties by Person Report
  (Rostering > Assigned Hours > Assigned Duties by Person)

  • Review staff scheduled to work

  • Set the date range

  • Include columns: grade, required grade type, and category

  • Filter by Doctor Grade Type if needed

• Export reports to Excel for further analysis

• For mitigation:

  • Use the Staff Availability Report

  • Or the Incident Plan Reports to identify available staff by grade or skill

Ensure all absences are correctly recorded for accurate reporting:

• Configure unavailability for Industrial Action:

  • Unpaid Unauth Special Hrs – Absences of a day or less

  • Unpaid Unauthorised Special – Absences of more than a day

• Check if reasons need to be configured for payroll extracts (per ESR UN3244)

• Follow the Standard Optima Payroll Configuration guide for setting up new reasons

Manage available staff effectively using Optima tools:

• Use Activity Views and Activity by Location Views to track unavailable staff by department

• Quick assign options allow you to assign available staff to activities efficiently