Survey finds doctors dangerously tired

DAVE BARBELER
September 7, 2009

Queensland public hospital doctors have killed patients after being forced
to work shifts of up to 80 hours without a break, a survey has found.

The Salaried Doctors Queensland (SDQ) union survey, which confidentially
surveyed more than 100 doctors, found 59 per cent of doctors had made
mistakes in performing procedures while fatigued, two of which led to the
death of patients.

After working 45 hours non-stop, one doctor told the survey one of his
elderly patients died after he forgot to check on them, which resulted in an
intravenous fluid overload."I am still having nightmares," the doctor said.

The survey also found 80 per cent of doctors had prescribed the wrong
medication while fatigued and 87 per cent said they often had no choice but
to continue working while fatigued.

One doctor told the survey they prescribed 10 times the amount of morphine
to a patient than was actually needed.

Another doctor warned about getting surgery at public hospitals over weekend
periods."If I was a patient I would not go to a public hospital over the weekend
for an operation," the doctor said."You're likely to be operated on by someone
who does not remember what their name is, let alone what bit to take out."

SDQ industrial relations adviser Susannah McAuliffe told AAP the organisation
had repeatedly tried to discuss the issue of fatigued doctors with Queensland
Health.

"The Queensland government has since offered a pay increase to salaried doctors.
However, the reality is that discussing pay is only a distraction from the real issue
at hand," she said."Reducing incidences of dangerously fatigued doctors treating
Queensland patients is the core issue that must be resolved."
Ms McAuliffe said a report released in January showed Queensland had the
highest level of medical errors of any state.

She said doctors were rostered on for shifts, but it was the words "on call" that l
ed to doctors being fatigued."The difficulty is that Queensland Health are tricky with
how they define working hours," she said."(We are now) seeking shifts that are
limited to 12 hours, continuous 10-hour rest breaks between shifts, and a
transparent mechanism to ensure that these rules are not broken by hospital
administrators," she said.

Ms McAuliffe said doctors who speak out about their working conditions are
often the subject of intimidation and bullying from senior Queensland Health
officers.

State Health Minister Paul Lucas said the government had employed 2,100
doctors since the last enterprise bargaining agreement, but did not yet have
enough staff to limit shifts to 12 hours."We have agreed that we want to do this,
but you need to have the doctors to do it," Mr Lucas told ABC Radio.

"Our commitment in Queensland Health is over the ... next two years to
eliminate this (long shiftwork)."Mr Lucas said he regularly met with doctors and
had not seen evidence they were being reprimanded for speaking out about their
working conditions.

The website, deadtireddoctors.org, was set up on Sunday night to put pressure
on the Queensland government to make changes to doctors' working conditions.

© 2009 AAP