Health workers suffering burnout
The first national conference on the health of doctors held in Dublin also heard that many GPs often ignore their own health to put patients first.
Those who attended the conference, jointly hosted by the Irish College of General Practitioners and the Medical Council, agreed on a series of recommendations to ensure that patient care is not compromised by doctors who continue to work while they are sick themselves.
Dr Paul Farnan, clinical coordinator of the Physician Health Programme of British Columbia, pointed to a study conducted by the Canadian Medical Association that found that over 45% of doctors experience advanced stages of burnout.
And, he said, it was now accepted worldwide that around 30% of all healthcare workers are at an advanced stage of burnout.
Dr Aiden Meade from Dublin, who established the Sick Doctors Scheme in the mid-1980s, described the conference as a "landmark" for the medical profession because for the first time in their history they were being asked to look after their colleagues.
