Leaders from the British Medical Association, royal colleges and trade unions say weakening working time regulations after Brexit will be dangerous

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Representatives of British doctors, psychiatrists and nursing staff have warned that weakening working time regulations as part of the Brexit process would put the lives of patients at risk.



Changes to the current EU rules on a working week, rest entitlements and paid leave in the UK, with the option of opt out, have been mooted by members of Theresa May’s cabinet when discussing their vision of post-Brexit Britain.

But leaders from the British Medical Association (BMA), along with 12 royal colleges and trade unions, have urged Theresa May to stand firm against Brexiters who want to scrap European laws, warning of risks to patient safety.



In a letter to the prime minister, medical leaders ask May to put her promises to protect British workers into pre-Brexit written guarantees to head off a simmering campaign within the cabinet, reportedly being led by environment secretary Michael Gove and other Brexiters, to relax the law.

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“Twenty-five years ago, the phenomenon of health professionals working 90-hour weeks, and the attendant risks this posed, was all too common in the NHS. The worst excesses of these working arrangements were only curtailed following the arrival of EU-derived legislation limiting hours,” reads the letter from the BMA and other medical organisations.

The EU working time directive (WTR) is incorporated into UK law and protects the right to restricted hours of work, regular rest breaks, health and safety protection and paid holidays.

Medical professionals say in their letter that they are concerned patients’ safety would be put at risk if there was any diminution of the WTR.

It says that even with the EU regulations in place, “fatigue, caused by excessive overwork, remains an occupational hazard for many staff at the NHS” – a point echoed in a statement by the head of the Royal College of Nursing, a signatory to the letter.

Janet Davies, chief executive and general secretary of the RCN, said: “Nurses are driven to do the best they can for their patients, but however dedicated, clinical staff overtired from working excessive hours could become a risk to the very people they are trying to treat.



“Working time regulations put an end to the excessive hours of the past, and in doing so made care safer.

“It should be clear to the government that removing or weakening working time regulations would put patients at serious risk.”

Earlier this week, May dismissed claims that the government was planning to ditch the directive, insisting she intended to “not only maintain but also enhance workers’ rights”.

She was responding to reports that Gove and others wanted to return the power to employers and to give the “ordinary British worker” the opportunity to do more overtime and make extra money.

Other signatories to the letter are the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Royal College of Anaesthetists, Royal College of General Practitioners, Royal College of Midwives, British Dental Association, Royal College of Opthamologists, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Royal College of Radiologists and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

The medical profession associations call on May not to renege on her promise, made at the Conservative party conference to guarantee workers’ rights in law.

Many doctors, particularly junior doctors, work more than 48 hours a week because of shift patterns, the BMA said. Many will work at least between 48 and 56 hours and many will stay over to finish paperwork or see a clinic or patient through.

Recent reporting data from within the NHS showed that one doctor in a trust in Croydon worked 81 hours in one week this year.

But the BMA says the WTR has reduced significantly the amount of incidents like this.