Surgical services 'could be lost'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/7859743.stm

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Surgical services could be lost from some hospitals in Northern Ireland when new European legislation comes into effect later this year.

This is what senior surgeons will tell a conference in Belfast on Friday.

The European Working Time Directive will restrict all workers to a 48-week from August.

Consultant surgeon John Moorehead said smaller hospitals such as Daisy Hill, Whiteabbey and the Causeway would be hardest hit.

"Those hospitals will struggle to provide a surgical service and there is a distinct possibility that with the passage of time, surgical services may have to be withdrawn," said Mr Moorehead, who is based at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald.

"The problem, however, is not just confined to the small hospitals. In the bigger hospitals, such as the Ulster Hospital, if we do not have trainees on at night, the work will be done, but it will be done by the consultants.

"But they too will be bound by the 48-hour week, so if they're working during the night then they'll not be working during the day."

Mr Moorehead said being able to work up to 65 hours per week, would allow trainees to receive adequate training and for "proper acute and elective surgical services" to continue at all hospitals.