London (Parliament News) – The BMA permits junior doctors to work at six London hospitals during a strike to prevent harmful delays in cancer care due to a recent cyber-attack.
Junior doctors have been permitted to work at some hospitals during a coming strike to prevent potentially harmful delays to cancer care, the British Medical Association has stated.
Are Junior Doctors Exempted from Strike in Some Hospitals?
The six hospitals where some junior doctors will be permitted to work during the industrial action are all domain of the NHS trusts Lewisham and Greenwich, Guy’s and St Thomas’, and King’s College Hospital, which are encountering delays due to a Russian cyber-invasion that has resulted in cancer surgeries having to be delayed.
About the decision, the BMA stated on X that a derogation would be given for surgical clerks about high-risk upper gastrointestinal, head and neck, and lung cancers across the trusts.
It added: “This will help patients who have undergone dangerous delays to their care due to the difficulties of mitigation against the unexpected and malicious cyber-attack. We thank NHS England for presenting their concerns with us in the interest of patient safety.
“The derogation only involves to surgical registrars in upper GI, head and neck, and lung cancer services at the three trusts documented. All other junior doctors, including at these trusts, still can and should strike.”
The walkouts, which are due to take place from 27 June to 2 July, are the domain of a long-running dispute over wages between junior doctors in England and the administration.
Can BMA Agreement Prevent Delays in Critical Cancer Surgeries?
Prof Philip Banfield, the chair of the BMA council, stated: “Safe patient care has always been a focus for the BMA during the rounds of industrial action; provided by giving trusts plenty of notice of the intended strikes so that more senior doctors provide cover across the strike duration. This is why we have agreed with NHS England that a fixed number of doctors will be able to work at six sites across London where the recent cyber-attack has disabled access to life-saving surgery.
He added: “NHS England raised problems with us about patient safety at these hospitals, and we are happy that we have been able to come to an understanding which means this group of patients will not sorrow any further delays during the strike action.”
Prof Stephen Powis, the national medical director of NHS England, stated: “This new round of strike action will again strike the NHS very hard, with almost all standard care likely to be affected, and services put under considerable pressure, while the warmer weather can usher to additional pressure on services at a time when the need for services is already high.
“As ever, we are operating to ensure urgent and emergency supervision is prioritised for patients, but there is no suspicion that it becomes harder each time to bring regular services back on track following strikes, and the accumulative effect for patients, staff and the NHS as a total is enormous.”