As I foretold back in February with unerring accuracy, the ghastly EU Working Time Directive is now said to have caused deaths in UK hospitals:

The Royal College of Surgeons said, in a hard-hitting report, that lives were being lost because patients had to be switched between up to four doctors every 24 hours, instead of being cared for by the same team round the clock.

Junior doctors used to work 80-hour weeks, staying on call at all times and sleeping in the hospital. Surgeons said this guaranteed continuity of treatment.

In August, EU rules were introduced limiting their working week to 48 hours. John Black, president of the college, said that, as a result, no doctor was monitoring patients for long enough to detect changes in their condition and vital medical details were being mislaid in a chain of “Chinese whispers”.

The surgeons claim that the rapid changes in shifts mean that nobody is taking personal responsibility for patients…

“Multiple handovers are inherently unsafe. Every handover is an accident waiting to happen,” 

Are we surprised that all of a sudden EU-driven Precautionary Principles – so powerful or even overwhelming when they are trying to boss us all around – are nowhere to be seen?

Or not.

The Department of Health defended the EU rules. A spokesman said: “Hospitals which have been working a 48-hour week for over two years have produced evidence that shows the change has decreased hospital mortality. There is no evidence of harm being caused to patients.”

Phew. I was worried there for a moment.

If the bureaucrats safe in their drab offices say we are OK, the silly doctors trying to keep people alive must be talking drivel.