The impact of the European Working Time Regulations on Ophthalmic Specialist Training--a national trainee survey

Abstract

Summary and introduction: To assess ophthalmic trainees' perspective of the impact of the European Working Time Regulations (EWTR) on their training.

Methods: All trainees in ophthalmology in the UK were emailed a link to an electronic survey asking about their experiences of the EWTR.

Results: 324 trainees (46% of those invited) responded to the survey. 44.4% of trainees reported that their posts were compliant with the EWTR. 40.7% felt that training had been adversely affected. 49.1% thought that ophthalmic trainees should opt out of the EWTR to work more than 48 h per week, with 57 the mean number of hours suggested appropriate.

Discussion: Many ophthalmic trainees in the United Kingdom are working in rotas which are not compliant with the European Working Time Directive. Many trainees feel that implementation of the EWTD has had a negative effect on training and feel it would be acceptable to work a higher number of hours per week.

Keywords: European Working Time Regulations; Surgical training.