Junior Doctors' Hours Receive Warning

07-07-2006

NHS bosses could face tough fines and even imprisonment if Welsh hospitals do not comply with European laws on working hours.

By August 2009 junior doctors will only be allowed to work 48 hours per week under the Working Time Directive - far less than they can at the moment.

Although 95.5% of hospitals meet the current target of 58 hours per week, fewer than one in three will comply with the 48 hour limit by 2009 without a radical shake-up.

The assembly government is warning the law will only be met by restructuring, and this at a time when there are already plans to centralise services.

A recently published report, Designed to Comply, outlines how the NHS can reform to meet the new working hours target by improving rotas and reorganising hospitals. However, hospital chiefs have warned that the changes would need to be made using existing resources.

After August 2009, any hospital trust breaching the Working Time Directive within the healthcare sector will face a fine of £5,000 a day - or even prison for the chief executive.

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