Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the (a) number and (b) proportion of junior doctors who work on average more than (i) 48, (ii) 56, (iii) 72 and (iv) 91 hours a week.

The Electronic Staff Record System shows that 1% (around 500) of junior doctors receive a Band 3 pay supplement – 100% addition to basic salary - which applies to working patterns that are in breach of the current contractual limits on hours or rest.

The Working Time Regulations (WTR), which provide the same protection to junior doctors as to other workers, limit working hours to an average of 48 per week. Junior doctors, as is the case for all workers, may choose to opt-out of the WTR and work beyond the limits; however, where they do so, their contract imposes a limit of 56 hours per week.

The vast majority – 99% - of junior doctors are working average hours within these current limits of 48 or 56 per week.

Under the proposed new contract the limits on average weekly hours will continue to apply and there will also be limits that go further. There will be a cap on the maximum number of hours that junior doctors can work in any one week: whilst it is possible under the WTR to work 91 hours in a single week and still remain within the 48 hour weekly average, the proposed new contract will limit the maximum number of hours that can be worked in a single week to 72.