AMA Survey of Hospital Doctor Hours To Improve Patient Care
In the first survey of its kind in six years, the AMA is targeting more than 15,000 doctors from hospitals across the nation in a survey of work practices to identify unsafe working hours that could put doctors and patients at risk.
Launching the AMA Safe Hours Survey in Canberra today, AMA President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, said eliminating hospital rosters where excessive working hours are imposed on doctors is crucial to ensuring a safer hospital system for everyone.
The AMA's last Safe Hours Survey, in 2000, found one-quarter of junior doctors were working high-risk hours.
Some worked more than 100 hours per week and one doctor reported having worked 63 hours of continuous hospital duty.
"Not only do these kinds of working conditions impact on the health and safety of doctors, but - importantly - they may compromise patient safety," Dr Haikerwal says.
"We hope to see an improvement since our last survey, but unfortunately it appears that long hours practices are continuing in some hospitals.
"The AMA has had anecdotal feedback from members that some hospital doctors are still being rostered on for dangerously long shifts."
Conducted on-line, the 2006 Safe Hours Survey asks junior and senior salaried hospital doctors to report their working hours over a three-week period.
Participants in the confidential survey will receive immediate feedback on whether their working hours put them at risk of impairment.
"Doctors who fall into a high-risk category are working at levels of fatigue and performance impairment which would put their health and patient safety at risk," Dr Haikerwal says.
"Public hospitals with unsafe work practices and rosters with excessive working hours will be exposed, and the AMA will work with hospital management and the hospital's doctors to introduce fairer and safer rosters.
"Safer hours will benefit patients, doctors and hospitals."