NHS bosses and BMA in war of words over resident doctors' strike

NHS bosses and the British Medical Association are accusing each other of endangering patients' safety amid the resident doctors' strike.

- Denis Campbell

Their war of words centres on "derogations", local agreements under which doctors who have joined the strike can cross picket lines to provide clinical care in a hospital.

Thousands of resident - formerly junior - doctors in England are nearing the end of a five-day stoppage, part of their campaign for a 29% pay rise, which ends at 7am tomorrow.

The escalation of the pay dispute comes as it emerged that nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have voted to reject their 3.6% pay award for this year.

Their decision, revealed in a survey run by the Royal College of Nursing seeking members' views on what the union had called a "grotesque" award, makes it more likely that the NHS in different parts of the UK could face industrial action over pay by various groups of staff later this year.

Well-placed sources say the results of the union's online survey of 345,000 members in the three countries, which is due later this week, will show a "clear" rejection of the 3.6% uplift.