Sunday 1 February 2009

Doctors 'can work longer than 48 hour week'

Some doctors will be able to work more than 48 hours a week despite new European regulations on working times, following fears over their training and patient safety.
Phew! That's all right then. Or is it?
But doctors' groups said that the move did not go far enough and that the limit could reduce standards and cut patient care. The Royal College of Surgeons has warned that the change could also affect staff handovers, making them rushed and endangering patient safety... The opt-out will apply to between 20 and 30 units at trusts across the country, including services providing 24-hour care, extremely specialist teams and remote and rural units... The European Commission will respond to the request by the start of May.
What? Between twenty and thirty units out of hundreds or thousands? The European Commission might or might nod give the nod to this in a few months' time?

Source: The Telegraph

2 comments:

Linda said...

Well, I'm not overly keen on having an overly tired Doc attend to me should I keel over!

It's all very well the old Docs banging on how they worked a 100 hr week when they were training.

Times are different now. Young Docs have far more hi-tech equipment and calculations to make.

Give them a break. They deserve it. Some are just kids of 24 or 25 making life or death decisions.

Henry North London 2.0 said...

The main reason is that now that the EWTD has come in they've realised that all their best people have fucked off to Australia following the MTAS disaster area