Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-07-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to issue instructions to NHS Trusts to draw up doctors’ schedules that ignore the EU Working Time Directive.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government has no plans to issue instructions to ignore the Working Time Directive (WTD).

There will be no immediate changes to our relationship with the European Union. We remain a part of the EU until negotiations are concluded, which could take up two years or more if agreement isn’t reached. While the United Kingdom remains a member of the EU, we must meet our obligations as a member of the EU, including the WTD.

It is the responsibility of individual National Health Service trusts to ensure service rotas are compliant with the WTD.