Junior doctors want legislation to cut hours of work

Junior doctors in Britain want it made illegal for doctors “involved in direct patient care” to work more than an average of 56 hours a week. They voted overwhelmingly for legislation at their annual conference last week because they believe that the proposals under the new deal on hours of work are not being implemented quickly enough. “We have always had the idea of legislation as a back up,” said Dr Keith Reid, a research fellow in Sheffield.

Under the new deal, posts over 83 hours were meant to be eliminated by April …