[Margaret Pilkington]

Neil read it again. Did I say that I did not agree with the WTD?
I was pointing out the specifics that had affected lives...directives from the EU.

It certainly affected the lives of those who use the NHS.

When completing duty rosters, the WTD had to be considered.
I (myself)certainly broke the rules of the WTD on a number of occasions...this was in order to provide safer care for patients.
Now, you are going to come back at me with something like...'how could care be safer if you had exceeded your working hours?'...I will tell you that I know my capabilities and would not have done it if I had felt that there was risk to either myself or my patients or other staff I was supervising.

It did create havoc though with Medical cover(doctors)... it took a while until resources were freed up to cover the deficiencies(on a couple of occasions I remember consultants coming in to cover the work of junior doctors).

Doctors working less hours also impacted on their skills....this was something that they, themselves brought up.