Flaming June

Abstract

The campaign the College is leading on behalf of surgeons for an opt-out from the 48-hour-week European Working Time Directive (EWTD) had some good publicity recently. I was asked to write an article for The Mail on Sunday of sufficient length to put all the arguments. This resulted in a series of media appearances including GMTV and the BBC Breakfast show, and a thunderous editorial in The Daily Telegraph. I cannot believe there is any politician in the land who is now not aware that surgeons know that the EWTD is dangerous for patients, bad for training and a risk to proper provision of hospital care. Sooner or later they will have to act.