EWTD sparks rise in sick days

19 April 2010

RULES restricting junior doctors’ working hours have increased sickness rates, a new study claims.

The European Working Time Directive was introduced last August in a bid to improve trainees’ working conditions. But new research suggests the law has had the opposite effect.

The length and frequency of sick leave among junior doctors more than doubled in the year after the EWTD came into force, according to research carried out at a district general hospital. Despite limiting the average working week to 48 hours, some doctors said the new rota system increased pressure on juniors by reducing the number of staff on wards. The directive was also said to have jeopardised training opportunities.

The study found that one in four trainees working at Conquest Hospital in East Sussex took sick leave for a total of 170 days between August 2006 and July 2007. After the directive, three out of four doctors were off sick for 312 days, according to the study.

The study focused on the Conquest Hospital in Hastings because the EWTD was introduced there 12 months ahead of other hospitals. And while patient death rates and length of stay did not change significantly, the rate of sick leave amongst junior doctors more than doubled.

Researchers warned that the rise could be because consultants are forced to spend less time on wards and that junior doctors have less support than their predecessors.

Dr Hugh McIntyre, from the Conquest Hospital, who led the study, said: “While not associated with any major effect on patient care, the changes in working practice necessary to comply with the EWTD were associated with, and may have contributed to, a detrimental effect on the welfare of doctors in training.”

He added: “The directive may have failed in its primary purpose: that of promoting the welfare of employees.”

The findings are published in Clinical Medicine, the journal of the Royal College of Physicians.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said their “overriding priority is to ensure that patients are safe and experience high quality and effective care in the NHS.” He added: “The directive also allows for a good work-life balance of doctors in training and for all NHS staff."