[Previous entry: "Some felicitous news"] [Next entry: "Pretending to be a software developer (part 1)"] In May 2006, the AMA conducted a nationwide survey of hospital doctors’ working hours to assess the fatigue risks of their current working arrangements. The on-line survey collected data on the hours of work, on-call hours, non-work hours, and sleep time of more than 550 doctors during the audit week. AMA members and non-members were able to participate in the survey.

Australian Medical Association: Safe Hours = Safe Patients

The study has a few problems with its methodology, but the results are still fairly damning. From the report (available as a PDF from the site):

The average of total hours worked in the 2006 audit week was the same as in 2001. However, the longest hours worked by individuals during the audit week actually went up - to 91 (from 86) and 113 (from 106) for the significant risk and higher risk categories respectively.

Long hours for interns have long been considered a rite of passage in the medical world, and Drew Dawson argues that a tired doctor is better than no doctor. However, there is no doubt that working hours of this nature present a very real danger to both medical staff and patients.

One comment

Tom :: Monday, November 13th

If they have enough time to fill out online surveys, they're not working enough hours dammit!