|
Junior doctors' 48 hour week may affect patient care: claim |
|
10 March 2008 |
Junior doctors are pressing Gordon Brown to seek an opt-out on a proposed new EU rule which will limit their working week to 48 hours.
They claim that a restricted 48 hour week would put patients at risk.
Junior doctors are pressing Gordon Brown to seek an opt-out on a proposed new EU rule which will limit their working week to 48 hours.
They claim that a restricted 48 hour week would put patients at risk. As an example they suggest they may have to stop in the middle of treatment to hand their patients over to a colleague, and also that it will stop junior doctors getting enough experience. The health department is also lobbying for an amendment to ensure that 'on call' time is not counted as working time.
Currently, German doctors can work for 65 hours, while in Austria it is 60 and in Italy 58.
'This issue addresses two of the problems we most often encounter,' says Sandra Patton, a clinical negligence specialist with Kester Cunningham John.
'Certainly we've found there is sometimes a worrying lack of experience among junior doctors. Also, if doctors have to change shifts because they are out of time in the middle of a medical situation it can sometimes lead to a lack of continuity and mistakes being made.
'If this EU plan is likely to exacerbate that situation further then we would support the junior doctors' move and ask the government to address the problem. But we also have to be aware of the obvious dangers of having junior doctors working such long hours that they cannot perform their job properly, which in the past has compromised patient safety.'
|
|
