Tired doctors killing patients: Union

The Salaried Doctors Queensland (SDQ) union survey, which confidentially surveyed the 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 of doctors 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 led 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.

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