Junior doctors may not be working the number of hours they used to, but it would seem they continue to be under immense pressures.
New statistics show registrars routinely provide medical cover for more than 100 patients a night at some of Scotland’s busiest hospitals. At Gartnavel, in Glasgow, which encompasses the Beatson cancer centre, the ratio is 117.
With numbers like this, it is hardly surprising managers are struggling to find enough junior doctors to cover their overnight rotas, with many forced to phone round other health boards at the last minute in order to find staff.
Senior clinicians say the situation is as bad as it has ever been.
Junior doctors’ representatives, meanwhile, say one reason for the shortage is many junior doctors need time out due increased pressures, adding that the high number of elderly patients in hospitals makes for a particularly intense workload.
We already know what can happen when the pressure gets too much. In September 2011 Dr Lauren Connolly was killed driving home from Inverclyde Royal Hospital just weeks into her first job after graduation. She had just worked a nightshift as part of a rota where it was normal to work 10 days without a day off. Her parents believe she was suffering from fatigue.
And what about the often seriously ill patients who require emergency treatment overnight? Junior doctors can and do call consultants for help and advice, but the fact remains an inexperienced doctor who has been working for 10 days in a row is unlikely to be at their best. As anyone who works in a hospital knows, mistakes do happen.
No one expects hospitals to be staffed overnight at daytime levels. But every patient surely deserves to sleep easy in the knowledge a doctor will be physically and mentally ready to treat them should they need it.
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