Patients ‘at risk’ due to hospital doctors’ hours, warns IMO

IMO NCHD committee chairwoman Rachel McNamara said healthcare staff are 'absolutely overwhelmed'. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins

Patients have no idea how little sleep their hospital doctors are getting and the dangerous conditions they face as a result, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has warned.

Some 83% of non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs) work “unsafe and illegal hours” without enough rest, thereby putting their patients and themselves at risk, an IMO survey has found.