BMJ  2004;328:1133 (8 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7448.1133-b

Letter

No time to train the surgeons

Only repeal of European Working Time Directive will help

The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below.

EDITOR—The really depressing aspect of the pithy and well argued editorial by Chikwe et al is that the outcome has been obvious for years.1 The European Working Time Directive is a disaster for medicine.

No amount of teaching in classrooms can compensate for practical experience. No reorganisation of hospital medicine, grades, or subdoctor "assistants" will help. Only a repeal of the directive will do that.

Neville W Goodman, consultant anaesthetist

Southmead Hospital, Bristol BS10 5NB Nev.W.Goodman@bris.ac.uk

Competing interests: None declared.

  1. Chikwe J, de Souza AC, Pepper JR. No time to train the surgeons. BMJ 2004;328: 418-9. (21 February.)[Free Full Text]

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Relevant Article

No time to train the surgeons
Joanna Chikwe, Anthony C de Souza, and John R Pepper
BMJ 2004 328: 418-419. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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