Fears over patient care lead doctors to lie about their hours

Published on Wednesday 27 May 2009 21:59

JUNIOR doctors are being asked to lie about their working hours to meet new European rules, research suggests.

A survey of 31,360 junior doctors who were compliant "on paper" with new limits on their working week, found that one in ten had been asked to submit that data even though the hours they worked were longer.

The new European Working Time Directive (EWTD), which fully comes into force on 1 August, limits the number of hours junior doctors can work each week to 48.

Richard Marks, a consultant who is also head of policy at the campaign group Remedy UK, said the findings should not be ignored, but said junior doctors had told him they wanted to work more than 48 hours to ensure good patient care and maximise training.

He said: "I've been asking lots of trainees about this question. It's true that they are being economical with the truth, but it's because they think reduced hours, in line with the EWTD, is bad for patient care and it's also bad for their training.

"They want things to stay as they are," he said. "They want good training and exposure."

The survey results were published in the Health Service Journal. Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "This demonstrates just how ludicrous the imposition of these rules are on the NHS.

"Doctors have been warning for months about the chaos that will happen in the summer when the rules are applied.

"The government must take its head out of the sand and recognise the damage that will be done to patient care if it insists on imposing these working hour restrictions."