Doctors want rosters decided independently

Independent experts should be brought in to draw up new rosters for junior doctors to ensure they are fair and do not compromise patient care, the Irish Medical Organisation has said.

The organisation made the suggestion as the EU working time directive, which limits working hours for junior doctors, came into force on Sunday.

It is estimated that only a low percentage of doctors are compliant with the directive because of a continuing dispute between doctors and health employers over its implementation.

Hospitals, in consultation with staff, have already started drawing up proposed rosters for junior doctors in preparation for a new agreement on working hours.

However, Dr Mick Molloy, of the Irish Medical Organisation, said junior doctors would lose out on vital training opportunities under many of the planned rosters.

In some cases, he said, the rosters would result in a drop in training opportunities of up to 40 per cent, depending on the hospital.

"The rosters provide less hours between nine and five, which is where the training opportunities are. If this goes ahead, a doctor would have significant gaps in training. More thought needs to be put into the structure of the new rosters," Dr Molloy said.

Talks on the implementation of the EU directive have been adjourned until mid-August by the Labour Relations Commission.

Under the directive, junior doctors should not work in excess of 58 hours a week, averaged over one year. They must be given 11 consecutive hours of rest within each 24-hour period and 35 consecutive hours of rest every seven days.

Dr Molloy said that when talks resume the Irish Medical Organisation will seek to have rosters drawn up by independent experts to ensure there are sufficient training opportunities for doctors and to ensure patient care is not compromised.

The need for independent experts was also needed, he said, following "unfair" claims by health employers that junior doctors were seeking to protect overtime earnings, while maintaining a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. working day.

Junior doctors, meanwhile, have also criticised the Department of Health's decision to publish a blueprint on training opportunities under the working time directive just days before it came into force.

A training principles document - setting out training priorities to be incorporated into the new working arrangements - was only published on Friday by the Department.

Dr Molloy yesterday criticised the delay and said it reflected the lack of priority with which health authorities were treating the directive.

The document sets out principles such as the need for training opportunities in the workplace to be maximised, and the importance of training for junior doctors which should be of sufficient quality to safeguard the standards and continuity of patient care.

It also says trainees should have access to state-of-the-art educational and training facilities in hospitals.