Hospital roster improvements 'not enough'

13 Jul 2012, 5:47 pm   -   Source: AAP

The Australian Medical Association says too many doctors are still working dangerously long hours in hospitals, despite improvements in the past decade.

Fewer doctors are working dangerously long hours in Australian hospitals than five years ago, but the doctors' association says the number is still too high.

The Australian Medical Association's "Safe Hours Audit", which investigated the work habits of nearly 1500 hospital doctors during a week in 2011, reveals long hours leave 53 per cent at risk of fatigue.

That represents an improvement from the last audit in 2006, when 62 per cent of hospital doctors were working risky hours.

One doctor recorded a 120-hour working week - seven hours more than the longest week reported in the preceding audit - and one doctor reported working for 43 hours straight.

AMA Vice President Geoffrey Dob says the latest results show hospitals are moving in the right direction but "Australia must do better".

"Still, doctors are working excessive hours, with many of them working shift lengths way in excess of the maximum suggested shift of 17 hours," he told reporters in Sydney on Friday.

Professor Dob said he hoped to see a bigger shift by the time the next figures were released in five years' time.

"It would be great to see it at zero. I suspect that that isn't realistic, so a target of closer to 30 per cent would be realistic," he said.

He said existing safeguards meant patients' lives were not being put at risk, but doctors' performance would be greatly improved if they were working more manageable hours.

"There are studies that show that once you go beyond 17 hours then it is rather like working with a blood alcohol level of 0.05," he said.

There was evidence doctors were suffering even after clocking off, fifth-year obstetrics trainee Will Milford told AAP.

Dr Milford, who is chair of the AMA Council of Doctors in Training, said he had never seen a case in which a patient was put at risk, but anecdotal evidence suggested doctors themselves were experiencing "near-misses".

"You get stories from junior doctors all the time who'll be on their way home from a very long shift and they'll be falling asleep at traffic lights," Dr Milford said.

The 2012 report chalks the improvement so far up to "changing attitudes, an increase in the medical workforce and improved rostering practices".

The AMA said attitude shifts and better rostering were more effective in cutting down excessively long hours than regulations.

The average number of hours worked per week in the latest AMA audit was 55.1.

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