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NHS, BMA accuse each other of putting patients' lives at risk

NHS England resident doctors strike

NHS England bosses have criticised the BMA for taking a hardline approach in rejecting some emergency requests.

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Key Summary

  • The dispute is over 'derogation', an arrangement whereby the NHS can ask for striking doctors to cross the picket line where patient safety is at risk
  • A central committee of senior BMA doctors takes the call on each derogation request.
  • The BMA has accepted nine requests by hospitals till Sunday evening, and rejected 18 requests

While the resident doctors in England are on strike, the NHS bosses and the British Medical Association (BMA) are accusing each other of endangering the lives of patients.

NHS England bosses have criticised the BMA for taking a hardline approach in rejecting emergency requests for striking doctors to attend emergencies amid the five-day walkout.


The dispute is over 'derogation', an arrangement whereby the NHS can ask for resident doctors to cross the picket line where patient safety is at risk.

A central committee of senior BMA doctors takes the call on each derogation request.

The BMA has accepted nine requests by hospitals till Sunday evening, and rejected 18 requests.

BMA claims that while it was ready to respond to emergencies, the NHS push to keep non-urgent services running has burdened the staff.

The union claimed NHS chiefs had failed to ensure that some hospitals had enough medics on duty to cover for striking doctors.

They alleged that some of the NHS requests were confusing and provided insufficient information.

However, the NHS has accused the doctors' union of putting patients' safety at risk by refusing some of their requests.

Resident doctors, the new name for junior doctors, are the largest group of medics in the NHS, representing half the doctor workforce.

This is their twelfth walkout in the long-running pay dispute, which will end on Wednesday (30) morning.