It will mean the end of on call working for resident on call which is
what I meant. If you are non resident you will be able to be on call.
This will be because the maxiumum working time will be 13 hour shift so
you will not be able to do 24 hour on call.

-----Original Message-----
From: Accident and Emergency Academic List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Adrian Fogarty
Sent: 09 June 2003 15:37
To: Andrew Webster
Subject: Re: European Working Time Directive

My research thus far would seem to indicate that on-call from home will
NOT
count towards the WTD. This was fairly clearly covered in the SIMAP
ruling,
and the following is the DoH's interpretation of that ruling, and
mirrors
the interpretation of British employment lawyers.

"Working time shall mean any period during which the worker is working,
at
the employer's disposal and carrying out his or her activity or duties,
in
accordance with national laws and/or practice".
"The characteristic features of working time are present in the case of
time
spent on call by doctors ..where their presence at the health centre is
required. It is not disputed that during periods of duty on call under
those
rules, the first two conditions are fulfilled. Moreover, even if the
activity actually performed varies according to the circumstances, the
fact
that such doctors are obliged to be present and available at the
workplace
with a view to providing their professional services means that they are
carrying out their duties in that instance".
"Time spent on call by doctors..must be regarded in its entirety as
working
time..if they are required to be present at the health centre. If they
must
merely be contactable at all times when on call, only time linked to the
actual provision of . services must be regarded as working time."

This makes sense when you think about it, as prior to SIMAP, many people
thought that resident on-call, per se, did not count towards working
time.
SIMAP effectively moved the "goal posts" to include all resident work,
but
specifically excluded non-resident on-call. Clearly this is sensible as
there are many workers, consultants included, who provide prolonged
on-call
services but are rarely actually called. Senior managers and various
"support" workers in all walks of life, including IT, maintenance,
emergency
services officers etc, also fall into this category and could not
function
effectively if SIMAP had included non-resident on-call.

So I disagree with Andy Webster that the WTD signals the "end of on-call
working" if that is what he meant. Also it would appear reasonable to
assume, then, that any junior doctor who is compliant with the New Deal,
is
very likely to be also compliant with the WTD, especially as the latter
only
stipulates a maximum working week of 58 hours from 2004. Does that sound
correct, Andrew?

Adrian Fogarty