Research Project: Impact of the European Working Time Directive on Medical Training
Two years ago the DH commissioned research into the implications of EWTD 2009. The research was undertaken by a team from the University of Sheffield initially led by Dr Helena Davies and more recently by Professor Nigel Bax. Dr Michael Bannon, Postgraduate Dean, Oxford acted as overall project supervisor.
The project was conducted in two phases.
Phase 1
This was an initial scoping phase that looked at the international literature (medical and non-medical) on the subject of working hours and the implications of this on training. In addition, focus groups were held with a wide variety of professionals. The conclusions of this part of the project were disseminated as the scoping phase report.
The report considers the influence of organisational attitudes towards training of employees. Those organisations that value training will ensure that it will happen regardless of circumstances and gain benefits in terms of employee engagement and productivity. It was also concluded that there was a need to professionalise the educational infrastructure within Trusts and there was a perception that everyday clinical encounters could be further exploited as learning opportunities.
Phase 2
The overall aim of the primary research phase was to develop potential models that would promote and protect training following EWTD 2009. The main outputs from this included a training climate questionnaire which was administered to a large numbers of trainees and trainers in three Postgraduate Deaneries.
The findings from this exercise are available from the Executive Summary.
It was found that while a considerable amount of training was already in place further efforts will be needed to ensure that educational supervisors have the relevant skills and protected time in order to fulfil their roles. Other suggestions for the protection and enhancement of medical training are discussed. The Training Climate Questionnaire is a validated tool that may be used to identify barriers (and solutions) to the provision of education and training within clinical departments.
Another output was the development of a booklet to enable trainees to maximise their training; this could be used in conjunction with the previously published document Liberating Learning
Many opportunities exist within routine clinical work that can be converted into true learning activities. It is recommended that this booklet is made available during hospital inductions and that informal training activities are routinely monitored.
Working Time Directive 2009 
