European Court ruling means Germany is likely to need more doctors

Hospitals in Germany expressed alarm last week after the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled that the hours that doctors spent on call must be considered as part of normal working time. Medical organisations in other European countries were less alarmed, saying that they had already taken account of its likely effect, since the ruling merely confirmed an earlier judgment.

Although some German politicians think that the problem can be met by reorganising work patterns, the German Hospital Society, which represents more than 2000 hospitals, has estimated that another 27 …