Working hour cuts 'won't solve junior doctors' fatigue'

Cutting junior doctors' hours would not solve the problem of fatigue and the related risk of error, a report has claimed.

A study published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine sought the opinions of over 2,000 junior doctors and found that a third of the 1,400 respondents described themselves as "excessively sleepy".

Disturbingly, one in four said that they had fallen asleep at the wheel of their car while driving home since becoming a doctor.

The authors said that long working hours were not the only aspect of work patterns that would need to be addressed in order to reduce doctors' sleepiness and improve patient safety and concluded that "a more comprehensive risk management approach is needed".

Dr Masood Ahmed, deputy chairman of the British Medical Association's junior doctors committee, said that juniors' working lives were becoming "increasingly intense".

"When designing rotas, trusts must recognise the importance of doctors having enough time to rest beforehand and afterwards," Dr Ahmed insisted.

"Unfortunately, too many are more focussed on saving money than improving patient safety, and are withdrawing rest facilities," he added.

Source material: BMA Press release

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