§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of(a) junior house officers, (b) senior house officers and (c) specialist registrars are compliant with the European Working Time Directive at each health trust in the Province. [187802]
§ Angela SmithThe information detailed in the table below was obtained from each of the HPSS Trusts during May and June of this year as an assessment of how the junior doctors they employ would measure in terms of compliance against the European Working Time Directive (EWTD) requirements as to be introduced at 1 August 2004.
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Percentage Trust Junior House Office Compliance Senior House Officer Compliance Specialist Registrar Compliance Altnagelvin Hospital Trust 100 63 26 Armagh and Dungannon Trust n/a 100 n/a Belfast City Hospital 67 57 82 Causeway Hospital Trust 100 100 33 Craigavon Area Hospital Trust 100 69 74 Craigavon and Banbridge Community Trust n/a 100 n/a Down Lisburn Trust 10 100 100 Foyle Trust n/a 100 n/a Greenpark Hospital Trust n/a 50 25 Homefirst Community Trust n/a 100 100 Mater Hospital Trust 100 78 45 Newry and Mourne Trust 100 41 25 North and West Belfast Trust n/a 100 100 Royal Group of Hospitals 60 36 45
Percentage Trust Junior House Office Compliance Senior House Officer Compliance Specialist Registrar Compliance South and East Belfast Trust n/a 100 100 Sperrin Lakeland Trust 100 77 67 Ulster Community Hospital Trust 54 57 37 United Hospitals Trust 11 37 31 note n/a = not available Based on this information, the overall HPSS compliance position was that, approximately 60 per cent. of the total junior doctor workforce was expected to meet the August 2004 EWTD requirements.
However the situation has nioved on since this information was gathered, in that a further 75 new junior doctor positions have been created within the HPSS, and that the addition of these new posts are expected to bring the overall compliance figure up to nearer 70 per cent.
The Department is currently engaged in gathering more up to date information from all HSS organisations in relation to the junior doctors EWTD compliance position, and will be analysing the information gathered with a view to making a more definitive assessment of the overall current HPSS compliance position.
We continue to work closely with all HSS organisations to ensure the objective of achieving full EWTD compliance for all junior doctors is achieved as soon as possible, while ensuring services to patients are not adversely affected.