Surgeons call for changes to working hours
Monday 2nd August 2010
Surgeons in Britain are calling for the rules relating to their working hours to be reviewed.
In an announcement that could be of interest to operation department practitioners, the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) stated that the 48-hour cap on doctors' hours had "failed spectacularly".
The organisation carried out a survey of 980 surgeons and surgical trainees across all UK regions and within all nine surgical specialties.
According to the RSC's findings, 80 per cent of surgeons and 66 per cent of trainees stated that patient care had suffered since the introduction of the European Working Time Regulations.
More than a quarter of senior surgeons reported that they are no longer able to be involved in all key stages of a patient's care, compared with 18 per cent in a similar survey carried out in October 2009.
Almost two-thirds of consultants also revealed that they have had to carry out operations without trainee assistance more frequently since the directive was introduced; while two-thirds of trainees stated that their training time in the operating theatre had reduced.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health commented that how the directive is being applied was "clearly unsatisfactory", with ministers set to review the regulations.
Written by Megan Smith
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