RCS to chair review of working time directive within NHS

The impact of the European Working Time Directive on the NHS and doctors is to be subject to an independent review by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS).

Focusing on how the directive has been implemented, the review aims to ensure that continuity of patient care and opportunities for training are not being compromised by the regulations, before making recommendations to health secretary Jeremy Hunt in January 2014.

Medical professionals and providers from across the NHS – including the British Medical Association (BMA) – will be represented on the taskforce, with practical recommendations for improving doctors' contracts expected as a result.

This comes in response to concerns raised by senior clinicians that the directive's current implementation is harming patient safety and doctors' training.

Mr Hunt said: "This independent review by clinicians for clinicians will give us a sensible, frontline view on the working hours of British hospital doctors."

Professor Norman Williams, president of the RCS, will personally chair the taskforce and has welcomed the review as a "vital piece of work".