Doctors could be asked to work up to 91 hours a week under the European Working Time Directive (EWTD), which is due to come into effect on August 1st, writes Dr Muiris Houston, Medical Correspondent.
According to a Department of Health document for health services employers, Guidance on Implementation of the European Working Time Directive, which has been seen by The Irish Times, it will be possible to roster a doctor for up to 11½ days in succession while still complying with the legislation.
There is no agreement yet between the Health Service Employers Agency (HSEA) and the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) on rosters that would allow the directive to be implemented.
Both sides are due to attend talks today at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC).
Asked to comment on the possibility of doctors being asked to work such lengthy hours, Mr Fintan Hourihan, director of industrial relations with the IMO, said: "I am amazed at this suggestion that doctors continue to work a 91-hour week, which clearly flies in the face of the directive.
"It has not been discussed with the IMO and we will be raising concerns about it at today's meeting."
Under the EWTD, non-consultant hospital doctors should not work in excess of 58 hours a week, averaged over one year. They must be given 11 consecutive hours of rest within each 24-hour period and 35 consecutive hours of rest every seven days. However, the directive allows for periods of "equivalent compensatory rest".
Under a heading, "Limits to EWTD Compliance," the Department of Health document states: "Using a 13-hour day - granting 11 hours daily rest each day - and having regard to the fact that rest can be taken fortnightly rather than weekly, it is possible to roster a doctor for up to 11 and a half days in succession while still complying with the legislation."
Mr Gerard Barry, chief executive of the HSEA, while confirming such rosters were theoretically possible, said it was his wish to reach agreement "in keeping with both the spirit and the law of the EWTD.
"We need doctors' involvement in preparing the groundwork for implementing the EWTD. Hospital managers cannot do it on their own," he said.
Both Mr Barry and Mr Hourihan said that industrial action on the issue of the directive was unlikely while both sides were engaged in a formal process with the LRC.
"The [Labour Relations] commission sets strict ground rules under which both parties must desist from industrial action," Mr Hourihan said. "We would only be forced to consider industrial action if there was a flagrant breach of these rules by the employers."
It is understood that approximately one in five junior doctors will be EWTD-compliant without the need for roster changes on August 1st. Doctors in A&E departments, who traditionally work shifts, are already fully compliant.
Doctors in other specialities, including surgery, have expressed concern about moving from a system of daily attendance to one involving shift work.