Work directive risks lives, says Clark

The Labour Government is putting patients' lives at risk by playing the role of 'Good European' with the controversial working time directive, warns UKIP MEP Derek Clark.

Mr Clark, UKIP's East Midlands MEP, who sits on the employment committee in the EU ,says the UK is enforcing the directive even when it is not obliged to.

"Why is the UK Government trying to assume the validity of the working time directive when it was one of the first to claim retention of the opt-out," he asked.

"The UK remains in that position with the support of an ever-growing number of EU member states who are reaching the conclusion that they do not want the EU to dictate the number of hours that its people may work.

"Five years ago, only four member states wanted to retain the right to opt-out. That number is now 15 out of 27 members so what does that tell us?"

Mr Clark said that by restricting the number of hours that doctors in the NHS can work would seriously jeopardise the welfare of patients.

"This experiment in the NHS is flawed," he said. "And its the patients who will suffer when surgeons who want to follow their progress through admission, testing, diagnosis and clinical care, will be told to go home and hand the job over to a colleague.

"In this sort of scenario, there will always be a risk to the more seriously ill patients."

Mr Clark's comments followed a series of articles in the UK press slamming the introduction on August 1 of the working time directive in the NHS which will limit doctors to working an average of 48 hours a week.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, John Black, President of the Royal College of Surgeons said imposing the directive would wipe out half a million hours of available doctors' time and would see patients as guinea pigs.

(DH) Review of the effect of European working time directive on junior doctor training

A review into the quality of training for junior doctors in the light of the implementation of the European Working Time Directive was announced by Health Secretary Alan Johnson today.

The review will consider the concerns raised by some professionals that the introduction of a 48-hour working week may have a detrimental effect on junior doctors' training, particularly on the training they receive while at work.

The Health Secretary has asked Medical Education England (MEE), the independent advisory board on medical training, to commission the Post-graduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB), the independent regulator of standards of training, to work with stakeholders to identify areas where changes to training might be necessary as a consequence of reduced working reduced hours.

Alan Johnson said:

"Everyone's overriding objective is the quality and safety of patient care. We are also concerned for our workforce and the hours they work. We want to provide doctors with a good work life balance and we do not want a return to junior doctors working excessive hours.

"There is no evidence that greater numbers of trainees are failing their end of year assessments where 48 hour working has been introduced.

"Also no junior doctor can become a consultant until the appropriate Royal College has issued a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT). This is an essential safeguard, ensuring medical training remains of the highest standard.

"However, given the concerns raised by some professional groups it is important that there is an independent and objective assessment of whether the introduction of the European Working Time Directive fully into the NHS will necessitate changes to the current system of postgraduate medical training."

Chairman of Medical Education England, Sir Christopher Edwards, said:

"MEE is delighted that the Secretary of State for Health, by asking MEE to commission a review by PMETB, is being proactive in trying to ensure that the introduction of the European Working Time Directive does not have an adverse effect on high quality medical training.

"This will be discussed as a main agenda item at the next meeting of MEE on June 8th. After this we will be submitting to the Secretary of State Alan Johnson our proposals for both the programme and the timetable for this review."

(BERR) UK protects working time opt out

Talks on the EU Working Time Directive have broken down without agreement being reached.

The collapse sees the end of the European Parliament's proposal to phase out the opt-out in three years. The UK and other countries have consistently held firm against this proposal.

A conciliation meeting in Brussels between the Member States, European Parliament and the European Commission was unable to resolve the long-standing differences between the European Parliament and member states over whether to retain the opt-out or not. With the deadline for reaching an agreement rapidly approaching, and the differences between the parties too great, it was agreed there was no value in continuing the negotiations any further.

Employment Relations Minister Pat McFadden said:

"We refused to be pushed into a bad deal for Britain. We have said consistently that we will not give up the opt-out and we have delivered on that pledge.

"Everyone has the right to basic protections surrounding the hours that they work, but it is also important that they have the right to choose those hours.

"In the UK and many other Member States, choice over working hours has operated successfully for many years. The current economic climate makes it more important than ever that people continue to have the right to put more money in their pockets by working longer hours if they choose to do so."

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said:

"Millions of people are better off because of the opt-out and I am relieved we have been able to resist its removal."

The dossier in its current form will formally fall when the conciliation timetable reaches its conclusion in May. It will then be for the European Commission to decide how to proceed.

Government has failed workers by refusing to compromise on working time directive

- Hollow victory on Working Time Directive means UK workers can still beforced to sign away their right to a 48 hour week.

Negotiations between the European Parliament and the European Council - the last of which were held last night - have failed to reach a compromise position on the Working Time Directive. The European Parliament voted to end the UK's opt-out from the Directive in December 2008, but after weeks of negotiations the UK Government has refused to back down.

The Directive, which is intended to protect workers' health and safety, limits working time to 48 hours per week on average over a 12 month period and MEPs want the opt-out from the Directive phased out over three years.

Nearly five million people in the UK regularly do unpaid overtime, on average completing £4,955 worth of free work a year and more than half of British workers say they have experienced symptoms of overwork and burnout. Indirect results of long hours include tiredness on the roads, with symptoms of stress and fatigue often worse than being under the influence of alcohol
or drugs. Reducing the UK's long hours could also help to solve other health problems such as excessive alcohol consumption, physical inactivity and obesity.

In her report 'I Must Work Harder? Britain and the Working Time Directive', London Green MEP, Jean Lambert, argues that excessive working hours puts workers' mental and physical health at risk, as well as endangering those around them.

Commenting on the negotiations, Jean Lambert MEP, who is a Member of the European Parliament's Employment Committee, said:

"The Council's behaviour is deeply frustrating. It's disgraceful that the UK Labour Government, a party with its roots in fighting for workers' rights, has fought to reduce protection for workers in this instance and left them open to exploitation by employers.

"To use the recession as an alibi is merely a smokescreen, since they have never had any intention of losing the opt-out. Parliament has offered compromises in half a dozen meetings over the last few weeks, but an intransigent Council refused to even consider them and stayed behind a red line of never ending the opt-out. This was despite Parliament offering a solution, for example, for a definition of on-call time for emergency services that would have ended the need for the opt-out.

"Greens support the European Parliament position for a maximum of a 48 hour average working week. This Directive already provides a good degree of flexibility for both workers and employers, while respecting the health and safety of workers and the general public.

"There should be no opt-outs on health and safety legislation. These opt-outs also create an unacceptable situation where EU countries compete on labour standards, reducing protection for workers in the long term."

(BERR) UK stands firm on working time opt-out

Brussels talks on the EU Working Time Directive broke up in the early hours of this morning without agreement, with the UK successfully resisting pressure to accept the removal of the right to opt-out of the maximum 48-hours week.

A meeting of the EU's Conciliation Committee was unable to resolve differences between the European Parliament and member states over whether to retain the opt-out or not.

The UK and other countries held firm against a European Parliament amendment to the Working Time Directive that would have phased out the opt-out in three years.

Employment Relations Minister Pat McFadden said:

"We have said consistently that we would not give up the opt-out and that continues to be the case.

"We argued that everyone has the right to basic protections surrounding the hours that they work, but also the right to choose those hours.

"Choice over working hours has operated successfully in the UK and in other Member States for many years.

"In the current downturn it is more important than ever that people keep the right to put more money in their pockets by working longer hours if they wish. We refused to be pushed into a bad deal for Britain."

Talks will now be reconvened for later this month, although it will clearly be a challenge to bridge the gap between Member States and the European Parliament.

Working time: Greens support flexibility, but not on health & safety

Fresh negotiations have started between the European Parliament, Council and Commission to reach a common position on the Working Time Directive. The European Parliament voted to end the UK's opt-out from the Directive in December 2008, given concerns over health and safety related to long working hours.

London Green MEP, Jean Lambert, a Member of the European Parliament's Employment Committee, commented:

"Greens support the European Parliament position on working time, which already allows a good degree of flexibility for both workers and employers. Parliament must not extend this spirit of flexibility too far in its negotiations with an uncompromising Council: there must be no opt-outs on health and safety legislation. Opt-outs endanger workers and the public.

"Parliament has already found a solution on on-call time for emergency services that eliminates the need for opt-outs. Given that "on-call time" refers only to periods where a person must be at the workplace, it would be completely unreasonable to assert that this can be defined as rest or free time.

"A 48 hour average working week allows enough flexibility to cope with peak demands of work, while respecting the health and safety of workers and those around them."