A very warm welcome to this pre-conference edition of Calling Time, and as the clock continues to tick down towards 1st August 2009, we are delighted to share the latest experiences and commentary about the EWTD.
National EWTD clinical advisor to the Department of Health, Wendy Reid, gives her opinion on the readiness of the NHS in England to comply with the directive on the front page of this issue and the need to ensure patient safety through the implementation of the 48 hour working week for all staff in the NHS.
A process of quality assurance is being undertaken by the Royal Colleges in conjunction with the SHAs throughout May, to ensure that solutions are robust and that any requests for the limited derogation are evidence based.
College and SHA colleagues are invited to look at the EWTD Compendium of Solutions and the independent evaluation of our national pilots programme that are published this week to support them.
Specialties facing challenges from the EWTD are highlighted by leaders in the field on pages four and five, who discuss where the service has come from and what they will look like in the future to ensure high quality care and clinical training. Thank you for the contributions from Professor William Dunlop and Shreelata Datta for maternity/obstetrics and gynaecology, Paul Malone, Mr Zaidi and Mr Mo Baguneid for surgery, Dr SR Moonesinghe for anaesthetics and Bryan Kessie for paediatrics and child health services.
Junior doctors, those at the coal face of the directive, from a range of hospitals with a range of experiences have given their thoughts on working within the EWTD. Their contributions can be seen on pages six and seven.
The conference at 1 America Square, London on 15th May will present practical solutions by clinicians, for clinicians who are still on the road to compliance.
We also feature the latest case studies from Guy's and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust and Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, plus a special look at Skills for Health – Workforce Projects Team's tour around a series of English football clubs to promote EWTD.
If you plan to attend the conference, I hope you have an enjoyable and interesting day that will help you take your EWTD planning forward as we really do enter the final countdown.
Working Time Directive 2009 
