Reform to ‘exception reporting' (ER) follows intense negotiations over many months that required RDC to go into a formal dispute, declared in March 2025, due to slow progress on the Government's commitments.

Co-chairs of RDC, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, said: ‘This is a good day for both doctors and patients. At the moment, too many doctors are not reporting their additional hours, not pointing out where they are missing out on training, not raising the alarm over staffing shortages, because they don't trust the system will record it. We're putting in place a system that gives them that confidence.

‘That doesn't only mean doctors will now get paid the money they have fairly earned. It also means hospitals will be able to see the flaws in rotas, patient safety concerns, and inefficiencies that are weighing down our NHS. This is exactly the sort of reform the Government should have been champing at the bit to make: a safety-critical system that was creaking at the seams because employees could barely use it will be replaced by something responsive, smart and fair.'

The BMA remains in talks with the government over pay restoration.