Patient safety and quality of care continue to improve in NHS North West following early implementation of the European Working Time Directive.

objectivesNHS North West aimed to fully implement the European Working Time Directive (EWTD) 1 year ahead of the August 2009 national deadline. Significant debate has taken place concerning the implications of the EWTD for patient safety. This study aims to directly address this issue by comparing parameters of patient safety in NHS North West to those nationally prior to EWTD implementation, and during 'North West-only' EWTD implementation.

designHospital standardised mortality ratio (HSMR), average length of stay (ALOS) and standardised readmission rate (SRR) in acute trusts across all specialties were calculated retrospectively throughout NHS North West for the three financial years from 2006/2007 to 2008/2009. These figures were compared to national data for the same parameters.

resultsThe analysis of HSMR, ALOS and SRR reveal no significant difference in trend across three financial years when NHS North West is compared to England. HSMR and SRR within NHS North West continued to improve at a similar rate to the England average after August 2008. The ALOS analysis shows that NHS North West performed better than the national average for the majority of the study period, with no significant change in this pattern in the period following August 2008. When the HSMRs for NHS North West and England are compared against a fixed benchmark year (2005), the data shows a continuing decrease. The NHS North West figures follow the national trend closely at all times.

conclusionThe data presented in this study quantitatively demonstrates, for the first time, that implementation of the EWTD in NHS North West in August 2008 had no obvious adverse impact on key outcomes associated with patient safety and quality of care. Continued efforts will be required to address the challenge posed nationally by the restricted working hour's schedule.