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.

IMO NCHD committee chairwoman Rachel McNamara said these doctors are “the backbone” of the system.

“The patient in front of a doctor doesn’t know necessarily how long they’ve been working or what their situation is or if they’re living away from their family or how much sleep they’ve gotten,” said Dr McNamara. “It is obviously having an impact.

The system just wears you down until you are barely able to provide the bare minimum in terms of care.”

She said NCHDs are the doctors who admit people through emergency departments as well as treating patients in clinics.

While she would not comment on any particular healthcare institution, she said: “It is being borne out in the headlines. There are signs and symptoms of healthcare staff being absolutely overwhelmed and that’s the impact on patients.”

Doctors spoke of “excessive hours, poor supports and challenging working conditions” in the February survey assessing the impact of the HSE recruitment freeze.

Some 77% said they are “pressurised” by managers to work extra shifts due to staff shortages.

“There is a huge responsibility and on the Government and the HSE to make sure that systems are staffed safely,” said Dr McNamara.

Not valued

Overall, 75% said they do not feel valued, respected, or supported.

She said an agreement negotiated by the union with the HSE and the Department of Health in December 2022 has not yet been fully implemented.

“The HSE recruitment freeze has exacerbated an already difficult working environment. The HSE and the Department of Health must now seriously commit to change, otherwise we will face another decade of struggling to make inroads into the ongoing crises of waiting times, overcrowding, and workforce drain that persist in this country.”