The European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) has responded to a European Commission consultation on the potential scope for improvements to the European Working Time Directive and the arrangements for its implementation.
In its response EAHP emphasized:
- Its support for the principle of working time regulation, an important aspect in protecting patient safety and welfare and enabling workers to reconcile work and private life
- The need for a balanced, careful and flexible approach in application in respect of understanding the both the challenges in, and important need for, providing 24/7 hospital services
- The impacts the working time directive can have in respect of health professional training, which should be a matter considered within the Commission's ongoing review activity
EAHP supported activity to improve the legal clarity and understanding in respect of how on-call and standby time should be treated in respect of the Directive, and suggested local agreement supported by well developed European guidance be utilized as a means of achieving this.
EAHP expressed its view that immediate granting of compensatory rest should always be preferable, but realities of staffing within hospitals could require an element of flexibility on the point (e.g. enabling it to be granted in some cases within a period of up to a two days).
EAHP response here.
Source
EAHP EU Monitor
