§ Mr. NormanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact of shift patterns of working in acute hospitals on(a) continuity of patient care and (b) overall quality of patient care. [92108]
§ Mr. HuttonThe majority of health professionals have always worked on shift patterns. The main exception has been the provision of resident out of hours medical cover, which has been largely provided by doctors in training. The most common arrangement is for these doctors to work a 'resident on call' where the doctor is resident on hospital premises for the full 24 hour period but only deemed to be working when actually called.
With the extension of the European Working Time Directive (EWTD) to doctors in training from August 2004, current resident on call working patterns are unlikely to represent the best use of available resources. Doctors providing out of hours cover will generally have to either move on to some form of shift pattern or provide cover through non-resident on call working.
The Department recognises the need to introduce these changes to working patterns in a way that maintains or improves the continuity and quality of patient care. To this end guidance on the implementation of EWTD for Doctors in Training has 809W been issued (HSC 2003–001) and the Department is funding a programme of pilot projects to test a range of solutions. These pilots will be rigorously evaluated to ensure that standards of patient care have been maintained or improved. The key to continuity of care is the implementation of effective shift hand-over arrangements and good record keeping and this will also be evaluated in the pilot programme.