BMA: Emphasis must be on quality

The British Medical Association (BMA) has welcomed a fall in NHS waiting times but warned that this achievement must not be at the expense of quality.

Doctors at the BMA consultants conference at the start of June are set to warn that the rapid implementation of the 18-week referral to treatment target, without a corresponding expansion in the consultant workforce, is delaying treatment for emergency patients.

To ensure good quality care for all, the BMA says it is essential that there is a further expansion of numbers of fully qualified doctors.

Dr Jonathan Fielden, chairman of the BMA's consultants committee, said: "These figures are good news and demonstrate the hard work of staff in the ongoing transformation of the NHS.

"Now we need to move further and ensure that the driver for reform is genuine quality – not crude measures of progress. To ensure that standards of patient care continue to improve, we need to see a significant expansion in the consultant workforce."