New Deal Analysis Calculations

Average Weekly Hours of Duty

 

If the work pattern has no leave days in it, then the calculation is simple. The duty lengths for all the duties in all the weeks of the pattern are added together and divided by the work pattern length in weeks. The result is rounded to the nearest minute. A Riddell formula or prospective cover adjustment may be added if specified. A duty on the final day of the pattern is always fully included in total, even though it may extend beyond the end of the final week in the pattern. The duty is assumed to “wrap round” to the beginning of the pattern. If  a start day other than Monday is specified, the period analysed will start on that day in the first week and end on the day before in the final week displayed. A whole number of weeks will always be examined.

 

If the pattern has leave days built into it, the pattern length in the calculation is reduced. Leave days can only be specified on weekdays. Each leave day reduces the pattern length by one fifth of a week, so five leave days will reduce the pattern length by one week. Days in the pattern with "zero hours" (rest days) do not reduce the pattern length in the calculation.

 

The New Deal target is as defined by the New Deal for the work intensity of the pattern. For a hybrid pattern, a pro rata method is used depending on the mix of work intensities in the actual pattern. Details are as follows:

 

The working week is split into normal days hours, on call hours, partial hours and full shift hours. The normal day hours should be 40, if it is more or less, the largest of the other elements is adjusted up or down so that the “normal days” element is exactly 40. If the total work is less than 40 hours, this process is omitted. Prospective cover elements are added to each intensity.

 

If "All hours" = on call hours + partial shift hours + full shift hours, then:

 

Target duty hours = 40 + (16*full shift hours/all hours) + (24*partial shift hours/all hours) + (32*on call hours/all hours)

 

Average Weekly Hours of Work

The calculation process is almost identical to that for duty hours, but the work component of each duty is used. This is defined as the duty hours less any rest defined for the duty.

 

The target duty hours is 56 for all intensities so no pro rata calculation is needed.

 

Longest Duty

If the start of the next day’s duty is the same or before the end of the previous day’s duty, then work is continuous, and the length of the duties are added together. For an on call duty, the target longest duty is different for weekend and weekday. If the duty, or last duty of a sequence starts after 19:00 on a Friday, or at any time on Saturday or Sunday, then it is considered to be a weekend duty. Otherwise, it is a weekday duty. For a hybrid pattern, each intensity is considered separately when looked for the longest duties.

 

Shortest Off Duty

This is the time from the end of one duty to the start of the next. The first day of the pattern is added to the end the pattern so that the gap after the last duty can be calculated.

 

Maximum Consecutive Duty Days

DRS only looks at duty starts when counting consecutive duty days. If a duty ends after midnight, it is not counted as a duty on the day after it started as well. Any day without a duty start constitutes a break in a sequence of duties. The start weeks of the pattern are added to the end of the pattern so that checking the end weeks is possible.

62+48 Hour Breaks every 28 (or 21) Days

The DRS interprets this rule is as follows:

From each day with a duty start, DRS looks forward 28 days (21 for on call rotas) in the work pattern (weeks from the start of the pattern are added to the end where necessary).  If there is not at least a 62 hour break and a 48 hour break in this period, then a "Fail" is indicated.

 

Average Total Rest

The New Deal requires that on call duties have rest periods equivalent to 50% of the out of hours portion of the duty. For partial shifts this is 25%. DRS interprets “out of hours” as any duty time outside the period 9:00 to 17:00 on weekdays. The figures shown are averages for all the duties of the specified type.

 

Percentage of Duties with Adequate Rest

The New Deal requires that 75% of duties with a rest requirement fulfil that requirement.

A special conditions are applied for on call weekend rest. Where both Saturday and Sunday are on call, surplus rest from one day can be shared with the other to bring it inside the New Deal requirement. If there is still inadequate rest, DRS will look forward for the next six normal working days and checks for surplus rest. Any found will be added to weekend days with inadequate rest.

 

24 Hour Partial Shifts

There are two extra rules for 24 hour partial shifts. Quotes are from HSC 1998/240.

"Doctors should not be on duty for more than four hours following the 16 hour period of out of hours work". DRS interprets this to mean that a 24 hour partial shift should not finish after 13:00.

"The next duty period should not start until at least the beginning of the next normal working day". DRS interprets this to mean that there should be no duty starting on the day following the day on which a 24 hour partial shift starts.

More:

European Working Time Directive Analysis Calculations