SURGEONS' WORKING HOURS

That this House supports the Royal College of Surgeons' (RCS) campaign to remove the constraints on surgeons' working hours imposed by the European Working Time Directive; notes findings from a recent RCS survey of its members that 80 per cent. of consultant surgeons and 66 per cent. of surgical trainees believe that patient care has deteriorated under the directive; further notes that with current staffing levels it is impossible to maintain good service delivery, therefore endangering patient safety; believes that the new arrangements around working hours have led to an increase in handovers with doctors unable to follow their patients throughout surgical treatment and that the shift system for 48 hours is significantly more tiring than the on-call system it replaced and leaves little time for training; further notes that the directive has led to an increase in hospital locum doctors with costs rising from 38 million in 2007-08 to 758 million in 2009-10; believes that since the introduction of the directive the NHS has lost more than 400,000 hours of surgical time a month; and strongly welcomes the pledge from the Government to limit the application of the directive, enabling surgeons in the UK to work a flexible working week of up to 65 hours, with appropriate rest breaks, so that hospitals are safely staffed to provide high quality care and continuity of care for all patients.