Sir, I am aware at first hand of the changes that hospital trusts are making in this country to ensure that junior doctors’ working hours are compliant with the EU working time directive (letters, May 13) and the obvious economic and training implications that this has.

However, during a recent research attachment in Brussels I was surprised to hear from doctors there that in busy specialities such as paediatrics and obstetrics, it is common for them to work a full day, a busy night on call, and then be expected to work the next day until 5pm. This has long since been abolished in the UK.

Although, in Brussels, there is a movement against this practice, Belgian doctors lack the backing of an organisation such as the British Medical Association to fight their cause. Whilst in Britain we follow European law, at the seat of the European Parliament itself the rules are apparently flouted.

The opt-out is a legitimate and transparent way that our Government has attempted to maintain a degree of flexibility. If Britain loses its opt-out, everyone should play by the same rules.

Yours faithfully,
SIMON DULKU,
(Senior house officer in ophthalmology),
Department of Ophthalmology,
The Royal United Hospital,
Combe Park,
Bath BA1 3NG.
May 12.

From Mr Malcolm Langton

Sir, It is a farce for MEPs to spend time (on our taxes) debating an issue like this when it is widely ignored in Europe. Around us now (we are in France at the moment) are farmers working right into the night, and many other self-employed are oblivious to any EU directives.

If our MEPs cannot be stopped from discussing irrelevant matters, they should get out and see what is really happening and what ordinary people want. And if we cannot retain an opt-out from this stupidity, the British Government should ignore any directive that comes from Brussels, just as many of our other European partners already do.

Yours, etc,
MALCOLM LANGTON,
As from: 4 Turnbull Drive,
Pocklington, York YO42 2YT.
May 14.

From Mr Richard Griffiths

Sir, If a commodity is in short supply, surely it is right to ensure that all get a fair share by, for example, rationing it. It seems to me that work is in short supply. Market forces do not seem to provide a solution, so a rationing mechanism might well be appropriate.

Yours faithfully,
RICHARD J. GRIFFITHS,
The Hop Barn, High Street, Yalding, Maidstone, Kent ME18 6HX.
May 13.

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