John Garner: Double whammy could leave us with less skilled doctors

WE ARE only six weeks away from the final phase of the implementation of the European Working Time Directive, which will enforce a reduction of the maximum hours a junior doctor can work in an average week from the current 56 hours down to 48 hours.

This loss of eight hours a week per doctor will have a number of serious implications.

For employers, it stretches cover so that they may require more doctors to ensure a minimum cover for patients in hospital. Extra budgets have apparently been ...