Junior doctors’ shifts capped at 17 hours

On 3 November the Council of Ministers approved a royal decree cutting 24-hour shifts for junior doctors (MIR) and other specialists in training to a maximum of 17 hours, and adding a training supplement to their pay that rises each year of residency.

A resident’s ordinary working week may not exceed an average of 35 hours per six-month period unless a collective agreement sets another system. Hospitals must plan schedules around the training programme and give doctors at least two months’ notice. The decree updates rules from 2006.

Spain’s MIR Association (AME) is unhappy with the decision: it says residents lose purchasing power and it will seek to have the decree repealed after the 29 November election. For patients at hospitals in Torrevieja, Elche and Alicante, where residents work, duty rotas will change, but no reduction in services has been announced.