Article on junior doctors' pay was misinformed

Editor-I realise Stephen Goldie's article last month was supposed to be funny, but it seems a shame that it contains so many inaccuracies of fact.¹ After all, medical students depend upon journals such as the studentBMJ to educate them about these issues.

A point of accuracy, which unfortunately spoils some of the wit of this piece, is that the formula is the Riddell formula, named after the junior doctor who devised it. This small error highlights the lack of research that has gone into the writing the article. This formula is concerned primarily with calculating prospective cover and has little to do with how many hours doctors are allowed to work.

The European Working Time Directive was not "recently introduced"-it has applied to most professions (including candlestick makers) for more than five years. Junior doctors in training fell under this legislation in August 2004.

A junior doctor could work up to 58 hours a week under the current legislation, gradually falling to 48 hours, in line with other professions, over the next five years. It is the new deal that limits doctors to 56 hours a week and this supersedes the directive on this issue.

The banding system and the European Working Time Directive are much more complicated than can be summed up in a few flippant paragraphs. Perhaps to aid Goldie's understanding and help educate his colleagues you can ask him to write an intelligent and informed article about the directive and pay banding for junior doctors for a future issue?

1. Goldie S. Life and loathes of a new doctor: the riddle fiddle. studentBMJ 2005;13:21 (January.)