Surgeons' Working Hours

EDM number 1012 in 2009-10, proposed by Martin Horwood on 04/03/2010.
Categorised under the topics of Employment, Health services and Standards.

That this House calls for the removal of the constraints on surgeons' working hours to a maximum of 48 hours per week imposed by the European Working Time Directive; notes the findings of a recent survey by the Royal College of Surgeons which shows that with current staffing levels it is impossible to implement a 48 hour working week and maintain good service delivery and that the new hours have led to an increase in handovers with doctors unable to follow their patient throughout surgical treatment and that the shift system for a 48 hour working week is significantly more tiring than the on-call system it replaced; and calls for an opt-out of the European Working Time Directive for surgeons and for surgeons in training to allow them to extend their working hours to a maximum of 65 hours per week, with appropriate rest breaks, so that hospitals are safely staffed to provide high quality care and continuity of care for all patients.

This motion has been signed by a total of 38 MPs.