How many hours is legal ?

[Janey]

Hi all, I've come out of retiremnt to supplement my pension and working (16 hrs weekly) as a bank nurse in a care home. A staff member there works full time at the NHS (37hrs)and has just received a contract for 30 hours (weekly) from the care home. Is this legal ? This person also mixes days and nights in the same week. this person is 56 yrs old.

[nightmare, RN]

I wonder if her NHS bosses know she is doing this.Tiredness can seriously compromise patient care.There is a European time directive which people sign saying they want to work over the agree hours but 67 hours a week just seems like too much!

[ZippyGBR, BSN, RN]

european working time directive saysan averageof 48 hrs / week - but you cna opt out ... however what you can't opt out of is the 11 hours between shifts ( can be monkied with a bit)and the weekely rest period ...

i suspect that the care home management simply don't care it's a bums on seats scenario ...

[Janey]

I suppose some may say its sour grapes, but I reckon its downright greed and the NH is only concerned about having qualified cover, and not about quality of care. The EU directive only gives recommendations and the NHS as a responsible employer wouldn't condone someone working these hours on a weekly basis, it would cause a riot. This person doesn't take holidays so works this 52 weeks a year. I have voiced my concerns to the NH but it falls on deaf ears. I doubt the unions would accept this either.

[Janey]

Re EU Directive, a lot of NH's and some staff don't pay any heed of it and as I've said above are only concerned with having qualified cover and making extra money. This sickens me especially when so many new nurses are looking for work just to exist.

[ZippyGBR, BSN, RN]

EU working time directive is law , as are holidays ... try the DWP / HMRC? HSE all of whom will take anonymous tip offs where the law is broken, people are put at risk there;s the slightest sniff of tax evasions...

remember they got al capone for tax evasion!

[Fonenurse]

Here is some more info which might be helpful http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/WorkingHoursAndTimeOff/DG_10029426

The person working all of those extra hours may also be in breach of their NMC code of conduct http://www.nmc-uk.org/aFrameDisplay.aspx?DocumentID=201

and in particular

7.1 You must behave in a way that upholds the reputation of the

professions. Behaviour that compromises this reputation may call your

registration into question even if is not directly connected to your

professional practice.

8.1 You must work with other members of the team to promote health

care environments that are conducive to safe, therapeutic and ethical

practice.

8.2 You must act quickly to protect patients and clients from risk if you

have good reason to believe that you or a colleague, from your own

or another profession, may not be fit to practise for reasons of

conduct, health or competence. You should be aware of the terms of

legislation that offer protection for people who raise concerns about

health and safety issues.

8.3 Where you cannot remedy circumstances in the environment of care

that could jeopardise standards of practice, you must report them to a

senior person with sufficient authority to manage them and also, in

the case of midwifery, to the supervisor of midwives. This must be

supported by a written record.

Each employer should be asking to know about hours worked elsewhere.

The scenario you have mentioned is unprofessional and unsafe, never mind greedy and dangerous...

[cariad]

i agree that is is unsafe and unprofessionl ,but over here it seems to be acceptable.i am surrounded by people who do 3nights with one hospital and three with another and both know about the other job, or a fulltime nurse that squeezes in another couple of nights a week doing pool work, or a full time day shift nurses who also work registry. but the biggest fault that i see is student nurses who are working 3 nights a week and going to fulltime school, which seems to be very part time over here, but even so, because the hospital is funding part of their schooling they are expected to work 3 nights a week as secretary or aide and go to school.

americans dont work to live they seem to live to work,and dont realise the danger that they are putting themselves and patients in.