Doctor hours deadline looms

HEALTH employers face hefty fines if they fail to scale back junior doctors’ working hours in compliance with the European Working Time Directive (EWTD).

Those in breach of the EWTD will be hit with a €1,500 fine for a first offence and €500 for each subsequent offence.

Andrew Condon, assistant principal officer in the acute hospitals division of the Department of Health, said the €500 fines would be charged on a daily basis if employers continued to offend.

The EWTD requires a reduction in the average on-site weekly working hours of non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs) to 58 by August 1, 2004. Most junior doctors work in excess of 72 hours per week.

Mr Condon said employers will be required to provide data showing EWTD compliance beginning on November 28.

“The onus of proof with regard to EWTD compliance is on employers,” he told the Irish Medical News.

The areas of greatest difficulty in cutting back junior doctors’ hours would occur in speciality surgery and medicine and smaller hospitals that maintain cover 24 hours a day.