NHS Junior Doctors' Strike Causes Significant Delays and Critical Incidents

British Medical Association refuses requests to recall doctors, while NHS urges public to help free up beds amidst the crisis.

Junior doctors in the NHS are on a six-day strike, the longest in the history of the NHS, leading to significant delays in A&E departments and hospitals declaring critical incidents.
The British Medical Association (BMA) has refused 20 requests from hospitals to recall some junior doctors to protect patient safety, claiming NHS leaders have not provided sufficient evidence.
NHS hospitals are urging the public to take relatives home as soon as they can be safely discharged to free up beds amidst the strike.
Pay talks between the BMA’s junior doctors committee and the Government broke down after a new offer was made averaging 3 per cent towards the end of last year, on top of a pay award of 8.8 per cent last summer. The BMA has asked for a 35 per cent increase.
NHS England is now formally collecting evidence of the harm to patients caused by the refusal of striking doctors to help struggling hospitals.