NHS chief accuses BMA of ‘extortion'
Sir Jim Mackey, the NHS chief executive, criticised the doctors' union in a message to NHS hospital trust leaders.
Junior – now resident – doctors have entered the last of a five-day strike that began on Friday.
The BMA has rejected 18 emergency requests by NHS hospitals for striking doctors to cross the picket line and help.
Hospitals are able to make emergency requests for help to striking doctors – called 'derogations' – to help stop patients coming to harm, such as in emergency departments and cancer care.
However, Sir Jim said that of the 18 rejected requests, the BMA would only support half of these 'if extortionate pay rates were offered to striking doctors'.
In a message seen by The Telegraph, he said they had worked to 'overhaul the process for patient safety mitigations' with nine requests approved by Sunday night.
But he added: 'Unfortunately, despite all requests being made and verified by senior medics, 18 have been rejected by the BMA, with half of those rejections saying the BMA would support only if extortionate pay rates were offered to striking doctors.'
He encouraged NHS bosses to keep putting them forward where they were needed.
The exemptions are requested by senior NHS medics in exceptional circumstances to protect patient safety and must be agreed on a case-by-case basis by BMA leaders, including chairman, Dr Tom Dolphin.
As of Sunday evening, there had been 47 requests for 125 doctors, according to the BMA. Some are pending or were withdrawn.
The resident doctors are demanding a 29 per cent pay rise to return them to 2008 levels of pay.
They have been awarded a 28.9 per cent pay rise since Labour came into power, including a 5.4 per cent rise for this financial year.
Nurses, who are expected to overwhelmingly vote to reject their 3.6 per cent pay rise, could also ballot to take industrial action later this year.
One emergency request rejected by the BMA was for a resident doctor to carry out biopsies on men with suspected prostate cancer at Milton Keynes Hospital.
The doctor subsequently volunteered to return to work and was praised by Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, for their 'bravery'. He said it 'ensured these men got the care they deserve'.
Of the requests granted by the BMA, one was for a doctor to return to work on a neonatal ward caring for new born babies in Nottingham City Hospital.
The BMA said it was launching a separate, related dispute with the Government over 'training bottlenecks'.
A survey of 1,053 resident doctors finishing their foundation training found that 52 per cent had not secured a job for next month.
After two years of foundation training, resident doctors begin speciality training to become consultants or GPs.
The BMA said this year there had been more than 30,000 doctors applying for just 10,000 posts.
Dr Ross Nieuwoudt and Dr Melissa Ryan, BMA resident doctors committee co-chairs said:'It's absurd that in a country where the Government says bringing down NHS waiting lists is one of its top priorities, not only is it not prepared to restore doctors' pay, but it also won't provide jobs for doctors ready, willing and capable to progress in their careers.
'Commitments from the Government to address this don't go far enough or are too vague to convince us that they understand the gravity of the situation, so we're making clear that, alongside pay, we are entering a dispute and demanding action so that no UK-trained, capable, doctor is left underemployed in the NHS.'
It comes as health workers represented by the trade union, Unite, voted to reject the 3.6 per cent pay award for this financial year.
Some 89 per cent rejected the deal, with the union saying it was prepared to take strike action.
It represents a range of NHS staff including paramedics, healthcare assistants, and cleaners.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: 'When it came into power this Government was clear that the NHS was broken. But staff are still leaving in droves and morale is still at an all-time low. The NHS can't be repaired while the Government continues to erode pay and drastically cut NHS budgets.'
Health workers in the GMB union have also rejected the pay deal while the Royal College of Nursing is due to announce a ballot of its members this week.
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