The safety of patients in hospitals is being compromised because thousands of junior doctors are still working excessively long shifts, according to the British Medical Association.

The BMA is now demanding immediate action from the government to force NHS hospital trusts to reduce the doctors' workloads.

The BBC's Heather Lima reports (Dur: 59")

The association's claim comes despite an agreement, called New Deal, reached at a time when many doctors were said to be at breaking point because of the hours they were working.

Some said they were on call at times for up to 120 hours, giving rise to concerns that patients' safety was being put at risk.

The New Deal, to be fully implemented in full by the end of December 1996, reduced their hours to 72.

Dr Mark Porter, chairman of the BMA's Junior Doctors' Committee

But according to the BMA's latest figures, more than 5,500 doctors - almost a fifth - are still working longer than that.

The BMA is now demanding the Government forces the NHS trusts to keep the promise first made to junior doctors six years ago.

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