Sleeping concerns over junior doctors

Junior doctors are “regularly sleep deprived” with more than one in five of those working at Scotland’s hospitals claiming working patterns leave them feeling short of sleep on either a weekly or daily basis, according to a new survey.

Research by the General Medical Council (GMC) found that 21 per cent of junior doctors were affectedinthiswaybytheirworking hours. Almost a quarter (24 per cent) said their working patters left them feeling short of sleep on a monthly basis, while 18 per cent said they felt this way at least once a week, while 3 per cent reported it happened every day.

Just over a third (34 per cent) said they were never left feeling short of sleep, while 22 per cent said this happened to them less than once a month.

Meanwhile 491 junior doctors in Scotland say they work beyond their rostered hours every day – with a further 1,876 saying this happens once a week. The figures were revealed in the GMC’S annual survey of doctors in training, which found across the UK 22.4 per cent of junior doctors feel short of sleep on a daily or weekly basis.

The report said a “worrying number of doctors in training continue to raise concerns about heavy workloads and shortness of sleep while on duty”.

Dr Adam Collins, of BMA Scotland said: “The findings show junior doctors are regularly sleep deprived and that work is needed to mitigate the effects of this fatigue.”