Controversial EU rules which will limit doctors’ working hours should be suspended during the swine flu pandemic — amid fears that the NHS could simply not cope with extra pressure.

That’s the view of some Stormont Assembly members as senior doctors prepare to hold an urgent meeting with Health Secretary Andy Burnham in a last-ditch bid to persuade him to hold off on the new rules before they come into effect later this week.

Under the European Union Working Time Directive, doctors across Europe will not be allowed to work more than 48 hours per week.

The Royal College of Surgeons has raised concerns that the rules will be putting an extra burden on hospitals across the UK just as pressure from the swine flu pandemic intensifies.

John Black, the president of the Royal College of Surgeons, called for “courageous” decisions to be taken on the imminent clamp down.

He accused ministers of “having their heads in the sand”.

“The courageous thing to do would be to step in and suspend the 48-hour limit for the whole of the NHS, once we come under pressure, but that would require political leadership,” he said.

SDLP Assembly member Tommy Gallagher, a former member of the Stormont Health Committee, said the “extreme circumstances” of the swine flu outbreak needed to be taken into consideration.

“I completely understand the reasons behind the European directive. It has been known about and worked towards for many years,” said the Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Tommy Gallager

“But we also need to take a balanced view of the fact that we’ve been overtaken by a serious crisis of swine flu that wasn’t foreseen when the directive was being planned.

Alliance Party health spokesman Kieran McCarthy urged Health Minister Michael McGimpsey to raise the matter in London.

“This is a European rule and there’s very little anyone can do to turn it around from here,” said the Strangford MLA.

“The public must have confidence that the system will be able to cope and limiting the hours of a doctor, particularly GPs at the front line, will raise concerns.”

Mr Black will restate his plea for concessions over doctors’ hours in a meeting with Mr Burnham on Wednesday.

The weekly 48-hour limit for doctors will be measured over a sixth-month period, allowing doctors to work extra hours some weeks, if they then cut back on others.

A spokesman for the Department of Health in London said hospitals had plans in place to ensure that doctors could work longer hours during national emergencies, as long as hours were balanced over longer periods.