§ Mr. HesfordTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the Government's submission to the negotiations on the Working Time Directive on reducing working hours for junior doctors. [116883]
§ Mr. DenhamWe are firmly committed to reducing junior doctors' working hours. We have already agreed a new contract with junior doctors' negotiators which will, if accepted in their referendum, place an 56 hour limit on average weekly hours by February 2004.
An agreement was reached between the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament on 3 April as part of the Conciliation to extend the European Working Time Directive to the excluded sectors. If approved by the European Parliament, this will provide a sound footing for reducing junior doctors' working hours. Over the next decade, we will have to make sure we can meet the needs of patients and deliver improvements in patient care while at the same time reducing doctors' hours. That is why we and our European partners have argued for a realistic transitional period in order to implement fully the terms of the Directive as they apply to doctors in training. We are pleased that the Conciliation has achieved recognition of the need for flexibility during the transitional period.