Junior doctor hours warning

IRELAND has been told by the European Commission (EC) to end the scandal of forcing junior hospital doctors to work 36-hour shifts.

Under Irish law, there are limits to doctors’ working time, but in reality they are not enforced and non-consultant hospital doctors regularly are obliged to work more than 100 hours a week without adequate breaks for rest or sleep.

According to the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), this has contributed to an exodus of Irish medical graduates, in particular to Australia and New Zealand, where they have proper working conditions and receive good training.

They welcomed the commission’s action and said that the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) failure to ensure the health and safety of doctors through the reduction of onerous working hours was yet another example of their blatant disregard of these doctors.

“The HSE continue to deny them their legal rights and in the process potentially compromise patient care and safety,” said Shirley Coulter, assistant director of industrial relations with the IMO.

Cristina Arigho of the EC said there are numerous cases where junior doctors are regularly obliged to work continuous 36-hour shifts and they work an average of 70 to 75 hours a week.

“Excessive working hours, combined with lack of minimum rest, create well-established risks for workers’ health and safety. Over-tired doctors also risk making mistakes which can have serious consequences for their patients,” she said.

Research carried out in Limerick University at six Irish hospitals in 2008 covering 30 junior doctors found “significant negative changes in doctors’ cognitive functioning and clinical decision-making performance that appear to be attributable to long working hours”.

The EU’s Working Time Directive says that on health and safety grounds workers’ hours may not exceed 48 hours a week on average, including overtime.

Workers are also entitled to a minimum of 11 hours uninterrupted rest per day and a minimum additional uninterrupted weekly rest of 24 hours.

Ireland has two months to respond to the EC and if by that time they have not complied, they will be referred to the European Court of Justice.