Doctors too suffer from long hours

MANY are writing to highlight the issue of housemen being subjected to long working hours. Doctors in government hospitals face the same predicament as well.

I was warded for several days after undergoing an open-heart bypass surgery at a government medical centre. In one of the daily follow-up ward visits, a doctor who was part of the team that performed the operation came to check on me.

She looked extremely exhausted but kept her cheerful disposition nonetheless and proceeded to hold my wrist to check my pulse rate. After a few seconds, I smilingly told her that she would not be able to detect any pulse because the surgery team had removed my radial artery a few days ago for the by-pass!

Blushing for a moment, she then proceeded to check my other wrist. Seeing how tired and sleepy she looked, I asked her how long she had been on her shift duty. “Thirtyeight hours,” she replied.

She was just performing a routine and harmless task then; I shudder to think of the consequences if it were a crisis at hand.

It is time the authorities show compassion to all our medical personnel who are our unsung heroes in saving lives every day.

Undeniably, there is a higher risk of making mistakes when one is very exhausted and sleepy. Surely, a reasonable working hour is not too much to ask for.

A GRATEFUL PATIENT Petaling Jaya