EU Working Time Directive (NHS)
Debate between Charlotte Leslie and Chris Heaton-Harris(12 years ago)
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Chris Heaton-Harris (Daventry) (Con)
My hon. Friend is doing a fantastic job of articulating the problems that the working time directive has brought to the NHS. On the question of the Jaeger ruling at the European Court of Justice, is my hon. Friend aware that the Republic of Ireland has had problems, and has tried to exempt training from its definition of work, so that trainee doctors fall outside the scope of the directive? In the Netherlands, trainee doctors are apparently classed as autonomous workers: the Netherlands, too, tries to sideline the directive. Across Europe, it is causing problems in health services.
Charlotte Leslie
I know that my hon. Friend has done a tremendous amount of work in this area. The ways in which other countries get round the directive will be the conclusion to my speech. The Minister has a choice whether to prioritise political process in Europe or patients. Will we put everything into finding a way to give patients the care, and the professions the flexibility and respect, that they deserve? I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Chris Heaton-Harris) for anticipating that point.