“We are delighted to hear the new Government’s pledge ‘to limit the application of the Working Time Directive in the United Kingdom’. We have been saying for many months now that EWTD can not, and is not, working for surgery. Not only is patient safety being adversely affected, constraints on doctors’ hours mean that trainee surgeons are not gaining the necessary training they require. The RCS looks forward to working with the new Government to find a permanent solution to this problem, which we believe is an opt-out of EWTD for those working across all surgical specialties.”
John Black, President RCS
