50 to 60 BABIES TO ATTEND TO PER SHIFT

Taking prescription medication for anxiety, depression and to manage their irregular sleep patterns;

Due to fatigue being unable to give patients adequate care, which resulted in complications, or death in worst cases;

Deferring “difficult” emergencies and miscalculating medication and feeds for premature babies because they “cannot cope”;

Putting their lives at risk of fatigue-induced accidents, such as exposure to infected needle sticks; and

Falling asleep at the wheel upon returning from a call.

“Sometimes I feel if I had walked faster, I could have saved that baby. But I am so tired. I have not slept for 24 hours and there are another 12 to go. I feel guilty to take a nap for 20 minutes, or even to eat,” said a registrar at Baragwanath’s neonatal unit.

There are 50 to 60 babies to attend to per shift, plus emergencies.

“There are many, many cases of cerebral palsy, which is from not delivering babies on time. Despite working so hard, I am not proud of the outcomes. It is the impossible workload,” she said.

University of the Witwatersrand NO REST: Dr Kartik Naidoo says he loves his job, but conditions are unmanageable Professor Ashraf Coovadia, who manages interns at Rahima Moosa, said: “In the old days, we worked the long shifts but were much less busy. There are just far more patients now than there are staff to meet this need. It is the case for senior doctors, and it occurs in private hospitals also.”

Doctors should rest between duties, and be “called” in emergencies, but this rarely happens.

Dr Kartik Naidoo recalls walking 35km on a shift, stopping only for water at 10pm. He started work at 7am and left at 5pm the next day. “I do this because I love it, but the conditions are unmanageable.”

Last year, after a Western Cape intern died in a post-call car crash after reportedly falling asleep at the wheel, the Health Professions Council of South Africa responded to protests from young doctors to restructure shifts. It recommended shifts of 26 hours. The previous recommendation was 30 hours, which often ran in 36.

But Dr Lucinda Singh, who is eight months pregnant, said: “The reduced hours do not apply. I did 27 hours [the other day] and we still do up to 30 hours. Our overtime is capped, so we are not paid for working those hours, but we do it because we are dedicated to the patients. The training in South Africa is unparalleled, we become quite confident, but these conditions can break a person. It would not happen in any other profession.”

Health Department spokesman Joe Maila said: “We have resolved with the HPCSA to cap the doctors’ working hours at 26 hours . . . because we are a caring government. But we shall keep on talking about this matter.”

Dr Khanani Mathonsi, chairman of the Junior Doctors Association of South Africa, said: “The biggest issue is that one person carries the workload of at least two to three people, so to fill those gaps unfortunately people are forced to put in those extra hours.” Comment on this: write to tellus@sundaytimes.co.za or SMS us at 33971 www.sundaytimes.co.za