No exceptions to EU rules on doctor working hours-minister(2

(ANSA) -Rome, November 26 - There will be no exceptions made to plans to accommodate an EU directive reducing average working hours for doctors, Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin said on Thursday.
    "I've given my offices the job of drawing up a normative proposal to avoid problems, but I can say in advance that it does not foresee further exceptions to European regulation," she said.
    Health sector unions and associations on Thursday warned that hospitals and other structures would not be able to guarantee some services without allowing some exceptions to the working hours rules.
    Groups including Fiaso and Feder-Sanità-Ansi signed a motion against the plans and said the new regulation posed serious risks "in a period in which resources for staff are at a minimum with spending constantly being reduced in recent years as a result of measures such as the block on staff turnover".
    Lorenzin said the ministry was considering an exceptional round of staff hiring to take on new doctors and nurses and to give stable contracts to those in temporary jobs. She said this was aimed at "allowing work in our health structures to continue as normal".