EU working time rules put patients at risk, warn doctors Instead of seeing familiar faces at their bedside, the patient gets a conveyer belt of doctors on different shift patterns. The rotas brought in to keep hospitals compliant with the legislation leave senior doctors and juniors little time to establish working relationships which are vital for passing on valuable knowledge. Moreover, the fact that so many young doctors are compelled to break the hours limit and work voluntarily, if they are to do a proper handover properly or take on night shifts, shows how failed this legislation has been. Concerns were also raised about the regulation of doctors from Europe, who are often used to plug gaps in rotas caused by the directive. They said the free movement of doctors should be encouraged because it allowed them to develop their skills, but warned that current legislation meant sufficient checks could not be made on their competency. The General Medical Council has campaigned on a European level to be allowed to test the skills and language proficiency of doctors, as they can do with those from the rest of the world. The shortcomings were highlighted after the death of David Gray in Cambridgeshire, after Dr Daniel Ubani mistakenly gave him an overdose of morphine while on his first shift as an out-of-hours GP in Britain. Officials said that although European rules meant the GMC could not test doctors before registering them to work here, employers should make checks before hiring them. The presidents said the directive and the free movement of labour laws "need urgent revision to allow greater flexibility of application if our health care system is not to be adversely affected." Dr Dan Poulter, the health minister, said: "I know there is widespread agreement amongst doctors about the detrimental impact of the working time directive. However, we must also ensure that junior doctors are not forced to work the excessive hours of the past. The Government are already having talks with the EU and we shall push for changes to EU measures that provide greater flexibility for NHS staff, particularly junior doctors.