A striking doctor has been called off the picket line to treat 'very sick babies' whose lives could be jeopardised by a five-day walkout by NHS doctors.
Nottingham City Hospital pleaded with the British Medical Association (BMA) for the doctor to be exempted from the strikes to work on the neonatal intensive care unit.
The hospital ward, which is where the leader of the BMA works, was reportedly concerned about the impact the pay dispute could have on the treatment of the most vulnerable, poorly babies this weekend.
Dr Melissa Ryan, co-chairman of the BMA's resident doctors' committee, is a trainee paediatrician who often works on the wards in Nottingham. Alongside Dr Ross Nieuwoudt she has led the BMA into the latest industrial action, which began at 7am.
However, Dr Ryan - unlike her unnamed colleague - has not been called back to Nottingham; she was some 130 miles south on a picket line outside St Thomas' Hospital, in Westminster, London.
