Hospital leaders warned that failure to recall striking doctors risked patient safety in some trusts, documents show
Documents obtained by The BMJ have shed new light on the process of derogation, which is designed to protect patients during industrial action by health workers. Gareth Iacobucci reports An investigation by The BMJ has revealed new details of requests to recall striking junior doctors from picket lines for patient safety reasons. While most trusts in England did not make such requests, those that did were rejected by the BMA in most cases. Some of these trusts warned of potential harm to patients from cancelling operations at the last minute and short staffing. The BMA said that it took concerns around patient safety “incredibly seriously” and that poor planning by some trusts had led to some routine care being inappropriately booked in on strike days. In other instances, said the BMA, trusts had failed to make sufficient effort to draft in the necessary cover for strike days. Documents disclosed to The BMJ show that over 90% of NHS trusts (83 of 90 respondents) that responded to a fre