BRUSSELS: The EU's highest court has ruled that time doctors spend on call at hospital should count as standard working time - even if they can sleep during some of it.
Dr Norbert Jaeger, a casualty physician at a hospital in northern Germany, sued his employer for only counting the time he was actually treating patients as full working time. The decision could cost Germany billions of euros and hit healthcare across the EU, European Commission officials said in Brussels.
"The German government estimates the cost at up to €2 billion and means a requirement of 20,000 extra doctors and nurses," Commission health spokeswoman Ms Antonia Mochan said.
A German doctors' organisation had forecast a lower cost of €1 billion and 15,000 extra medical staff, she added.
It is understood the ruling will not effect pay and staffing in Ireland, where doctors on call are paid in line with the ruling.
Following the ruling, Dr Jaeger said it would lead to shorter hours for doctors and better healthcare for patients.
"I don't think you want surgery done by doctors who are overtired, who have been working for more than 20 hours," he said. "We have the ironic situation that I can operate, but afterwards I am not allowed to drive my car."
The court ruled the German law conflicted with an EU directive that defines working time as "any period during which the worker is . . . at the employer's disposal". German employment law distinguishes between "readiness for work", paid at full rate, and "on-call service" which is not.
The Court of Justice in Luxembourg said Dr Jaeger's night shifts should count as "readiness for work" because he had to spend them at the hospital.
"A doctor [on call at hospital\] is subject to appreciably greater constraints than a doctor on stand-by, since he has to remain apart from his family and social environment and has less freedom to manage his time," the court said in a statement.
It did not make a difference that the hospital provided a bed for Dr Jaeger to sleep in when he was not needed. - (Reuters)