Experience of directive in the Netherlands

When in 1993 the Dutch parliament approved a law restricting the working time of junior doctors to 48 hours a week, the surgical community in the Netherlands experienced all of the classic stages of mourning as described by Kubler-Ross. Major concerns were the reduction in training time, resulting in less experienced young surgeons, and the problems of devising rotas. The same worries are felt in the UK.1 The Dutch Ministry of Labour …