Not on holiday - just working!
-----Original Message-----
From: Accident and Emergency Academic List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Adrian Fogarty
Sent: 02 June 2003 11:47
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: European Working Time Directive
Can anyone enlighten me on some of the details of this legislation?
There
remain some points I'm not clear about.
1 Will it apply to "seniors" as well as to "juniors"?
It applies to seniors right now and has done so for some years. Few
seniors actually make efforts to enforce it however.
Much more interesting is the situation for Trust grades etc. If you have
juniors who are not in approved training grade posts sharing a rota with
SHOs or SpRs and they are exceeding 48 hours this is illegal. Unlike
Consultants they usually have little autonomy over the hours they work
and so employers are much more vulnerable to sanction by the courts.
2 Will it apply to "working" i.e. on-call from home, or just to
resident
work?
No-one knows because like all law it has to be tested by real cases in
court. Legal opinions have been sought but they vary. The Spanish case
"SiMAP" is the only case taken to court so far that we know of. This
confirms that much to the consternation of even the Eurocrats who wrote
the directive all time resident on call counts as work. It has been
assumed that time on call from home but not actually "carrying out
duties" will not count as work for the purposes of the 48 hours but this
is subject to challenge.
3 Does it come into force for all on August 2004?
See above - already in for all except junior doctors. Phased
introduction for junior doctors.
4 What are the penalties for non-compliance?
Enforcement order by Health and Safety Executive then fines for
non-compliance.
5 Will it apply to locums, and how can they be "policed"?
Should apply but hard to police.
6 How will it affect GPs who provide 24-hour cover?
Applies to salaried GPs now but not to self employed GPs.
I'd be grateful for any advice any of you (especially Andrew!) can
offer.
Adrian Fogarty
A&E Consultant
Most of the above has already been said but I thought I ought to reply
given Adrian's special request.
Andrew Hobart
A&E Consultant
Newham General and Royal London Hospitals
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