Resident doctors agree reforms to exception reporting system

Library image. Credit: Getty/Dean Mitchell

By Sarah Lowden

Resident doctors in England have agreed to reforms to additional hours and safe working practices in hospitals, the British Medical Association has announced.

In January, union members voted to go into dispute with the government over “a lack of progress to non-payment elements of the 2024 pay deal”.

This agreement brings that dispute to a close.

Changes to ‘exception reporting’, which doctors use to record their working hours accurately and identify unsafe staffing numbers, had been a key element of the deal that had seen “too little progress” up to January, the BMA said.

As a result of “extensive” negotiations with the Department for Health and Social Care, NHS Employers, and NHS England, the BMA’s resident doctors committee (RDC) said enough reforms had been agreed to end the dispute.

The union said the current exception reporting system “is not fit for purpose” as it was often an inaccessible system, a time-consuming process, and some resident fear potential repercussions for identifying problems.

A lack of reporting reduces NHS productivity and can even put patient safety in jeopardy, the BMA warned.

Co-chairs of RDC, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, said: “Doctors should never feel intimidated into not reporting their overtime, not pointing out where they are missing out on training, not raising the alarm over staffing shortages...

“This needed to change and we feel confident we are now making enough progress in doing so...

“Exception reporting highlights flaws in rotas, patient safety concerns, and inefficiencies right across a hospital. With the data coming in from an exception reporting system that everyone believes in, the NHS will have the localised and up-to-date information stream it needs to fix problems and keep patients safe.”

The BMA said the reforms include:

• Moving responsibility for handling exception reporting from medical supervisors to hospital HR departments
• Improved accessibility of the process
• Minimum expected ER requirements for employers enforced by fines

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are glad the BMA have accepted this agreement, and we will continue to work with resident doctors to improve their working lives and keep them in the NHS.

“We ended the most prolonged industrial dispute in the health service’s history within just one month to make sure staff are on the front line not the picket line.

“As we deliver our Plan for Change, we are taking action to get the NHS back on its feet and cut waiting times for patients.”

Updated at 18:44 with DHSC statement.

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