The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I WAS recently an in-patient at PMH. I quickly observed that young doctors, I believe interns, were on uninterrupted duty, which they refer to as being "on call", for 32-36 hours at a time without respite or going home. One could easily tell after 15-20 hours that they were absolutely exhausted and essentially out on their feet.

I was very sick at the time, and yet found myself feeling sorry for the poor kids. They are kids. Most of them are in their twenties and genuinely trying their best. I think this is untenable and a major risk to the health and even lives of patients. Eight hours work a day is a reasonable average. 12 hours is a lot. But 32-36 hours is excessive, insane and inhumane. No one can function properly after so many hours without sleep. And it is even more concerning because these are individuals dealing with life and death decisions and procedures.

An error or oversight due to sleep deprivation could easily cost someone their life. That is just unacceptable. How many of us would like a pilot who has not slept in over 24 hours to fly us anywhere? This situation is similar, except the patients are mostly unaware of it. The administrators at the hospital are aware of it, and either they are incompetent, inept, simply don't care or are just plain ruthless and mean-spirited. Whatever it is, they should be ashamed of themselves for instituting or permitting it thereby, in my opinion, betraying the trust the public reposed in them.

The law in the Bahamas, I believe stipulates a 40-hour work week, yet these young doctors are being made to work almost that in one shift and more than double that in a week, it is my understanding that these interns are contracted and paid for 40 hours work per week, yet they are being forced to do more than double that for the same money. That is not only exploitation and abuse, but absolutely inhumane. It is pure slavery, disguised as dedication and call to duty. It needs to stop immediately.

Apart from this very unfair and inhumane treatment of these doctors, they are seriously endangering the lives of patients and causing, in my opinion, preventable deaths. This situation must be addressed and this ridiculous practice must stop immediately. The doctors should not work more than 12 hours in a single shift (which is a lot) without at least an eight hour rest in between.

A ROLLE

Nassau,

January, 2024.