Implementation of working time directive has had adverse impact on training in UK, taskforce says

Abstract

The implementation of the European Working Time Directive in the NHS has had an adverse impact on training in certain medical specialties, including surgery and acute medicine, an independent taskforce has reported.1 Last October the government commissioned an independent taskforce to review concerns about the impact the directive was having on doctors’ learning and patient care in the UK. The directive was fully incorporated into the NHS in 2009 and means that trainee doctors can work for a maximum of 48 hours a week across a six month period. The taskforce found that although doctors in some specialties were able to …