Most NHS organisations are on track to have their staff working an average of no more than 48 hours a week by 1st August 2009.
The NHS is on track to meet the European Working Time Directive by 1st August 2009, according to Wendy Reid, a surgeon and European Working Time Directive clinical adviser to the Department of Health (DH).
She is confident most NHS organisations will be able to ensure that by August all their staff are working an average of no more than 48 hours per week. However, she is keen to stress that there will be an 'element of flexibility' built into working hours.
"We are coming down to the final increment to 48 hours and this is referenced over 26 weeks, so absolutely no way if you are in an emergency situation are you expected to say ‘my shift's finished, time's up' and you go off. The flexibility is within that reference period, for an average 48 hour working week," she says.
Safe care
All strategic health authorities (SHAs), the medical royal colleges and the British Medical Association are now working together to monitor organisations on compliance and to offer solutions so the directive is met by August.
According to Miss Reid there is now a "real understanding" among the medical profession that "tired doctors are not safe".
She continues: "This legislation is health and safety, not just for the employee but for patients. The moment you talk about patients and safe care is when doctors really engage."
However, she adds that the only way to solve current compliance problems was through a 'whole-systems approach'.
"It can't be up to an individual doctor or group of doctors in a team to solve it; it has to be by looking across the whole organisation."
Across the country more than 30 trusts have piloted different rotas and working solutions to ensure compliance. The DH, alongside the SHAs, the royal colleges, Skills for Health - Workforce Projects Team and NHS East of England Workforce Programmes Team, offer organisations a range of innovative solutions to meet the directive.
Miss Reid says: "There will be exceptions and the government has made it clear to the European Commission that derogation for some services in 24 acute emergency specialties may occur. However, this is not an excuse for trusts to miss the August deadline."
"£310m has been made available to help trusts become compliant. To do this, clinical leaders need to develop robust business cases and plans to secure the money."
"At its heart the European working time legislation is a vehicle by which the NHS can ensure that patient safety remains paramount and at the same time ensure the best quality of training for junior doctors in the modern world."
Working Time Directive 2009 
