Written question asked by Archie Norman (Conservative) on Wednesday, 21 July 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 7 September 2004. It was answered by Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour) on Tuesday, 7 September 2004 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what evidence he has collated following the results from the Working Time Directive Pilots Programme on whether the NHS will be compliant with the European Working Time Directive on 1st August; what recent representations he has received on the ability of (a) anaesthetic, (b) maternity, (c) paediatric, (d) general surgical and (e) general medical services to comply with the European Working Time Directive.

Answer: Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what evidence he has collated following the results from the Working Time Directive Pilots Programme on whether the NHS will be compliant with the European Working Time Directive on 1 August; [186363] (2) what recent representations he has received on the ability of (a) anaesthetic, (b) maternity, (c) paediatric, (d) general surgical and (e) general medical services to comply with the European Working Time Directive. [186364] Mr. Hutton: Strategic health authorities are responsible for performance managing trust implementation of Working Time Directive (WTD) compliance for doctors in training from 1 August 2004. The Working Time Regulations have applied to all other national health service staff since 1998 and trusts are expected to comply with them in the same way as any other national legislation. The Department does not routinely collect information on compliance either by trust or by specialty. The vast majority of trusts are now fully compliant. A handful of trusts are having problems in securing compliance in a limited number of specialties. We are working in partnership with the British Medical Association, the Royal Colleges and the Modernisation Agency to support those trusts finding compliance particularly difficult. The Modernisation Agency WTD team offers expert advice and the sharing of good practice solutions throughout the NHS.

Secondary information