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The working time directive
The implications of the Working Time Directive: how can paediatrics survive?
University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust, Stoke-on-Trent, UK
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Stephen Andrew Spencer
Neonatal Unit, Maternity Hospital, University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust, Newcastle Road, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 6QG, UK; andy.spencer@uhns.nhs.uk
Accepted 5 February 2007
The changes necessitated by the Working Time Directive are likely to be painful but can be ameliorated by careful planning
Abbreviations: ANP, advanced nurse practitioners; MMC, Modernising Medical Careers; NHS, National Health Service; WTD, Working Time Directive; WTR, Working Time Regulations
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
In August 2004 the Working Time Directive (WTD) came into force for doctors in training, imposing a maximum of 58 working hours per week with minimum rest requirements. The next challenge will be WTD 2009, which takes the maximum working hours down to 48.1 For many of us trying to cope with service and training demands and achieve a reasonable work–life balance this may seem a step too far.
The WTD limit already applies to nurses and other National Health Service (NHS) staff including consultants and staff grade doctors. Doctors in training will no longer be exempted from the original WTD, now enacted in the UK as part of health and safety law as the Working Time Regulations (WTR).2 The WTR specify maximum hours of work and minimum rest periods based on the SIMAP3 and Jaeger4 judgements in the European Court of Justice. All time spent
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