The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) is to chair an independent review of the implementation of the Working Time Directive (WTD), Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced.
The review, which will focus on how the Directive has been implemented, will make sure that continuity of patient care and opportunities for training are not being compromised. Medical professionals and providers from across the NHS will be represented on the taskforce, including the British Medical Association (BMA). They will investigate the evidence and provide expert advice on the impact of the regulations on the delivery of patient care and the training of the next generation of doctors, including across different specialisms. The taskforce will report to the Secretary of State for Health in January 2014 with recommendations for government policy on the implementation of the Directive, including practical recommendations for improving doctors’ contracts. By focusing specifically on the way the Directive is being brought in across the country and looking at best practice, the new taskforce hopes to come up with immediate solutions for mitigating the impact of the Directive. Jeremy Hunt said: “No-one wants to go back to the bad old days of tired doctors working excessive hours, but when senior clinicians tell us this directive’s implementation is harming patient safety and doctors’ training, it’s right that we take another look at it. This independent review by clinicians for clinicians will give us a sensible, frontline view on the working hours of British hospital doctors.”
