Junior doctors at breaking point

Bullying, stress leads to spike in calls to depression hotlines

LONG working hours and poor working conditions are driving young doctors over the edge with a spike in calls to depression hotlines and helplines at their universities. The SA Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) said since October last year when they launched a helpline for young doctors and interns they have received hundreds of calls from medical students, interns and junior doctors for a variety of reasons, including depression and anxiety.

Cassey Chambers, operations director at Sadag, said the hotline was started after they were inundated with calls. She said the hotline was still new but was showing an increase in traffic as word spread.

Industrial psychology lecturer Marietha de Wet from Stellenbosch University said her research showed that university hotlines assisting medical students received around 500 calls a month as the students suffer from mental health, depression or anxiety disorders.

“There is a high prevalence of bullying in the medical field and it goes hand in hand with the very long working hours and poor working conditions,” De Wet said.

She conducted a study in 2011 about bullying in the medical sector, investigating the way trained medical professionals treat young doctors.

“They often see junior doctors as a threat to them. There is a hierarchy of people on a different level in the medical profession,” she said.

Medical officer Adil Khan managed to collect raw data over a month. He is heading a project called “That’s Bull” that deals with bullying in the medical profession.

“Medicine is a profession that has a toxic culture of hierarchy, mistreatment and bullying. The problem extends deeper to include medical students, allied health professionals, support staff and others,” Khan said. He created a questionnaire and distributed it to numerous junior doctor associated groups on social media, and 58 people had responded so far.

“That number includes doctors, community service interns, medical students and all of that information pertains to poor working conditions,” Khan said.

His raw data paints a bleak picture that almost half of Western Cape medical practitioners complain about poor working conditions.

The Junior Doctors Association of SA (Judasa) chairperson Theresa Mwesigwa said the association was deeply concerned.

“Medical practitioners are at high risk when it comes to anxiety, depression or suicide and its a result of the working conditions but it’s also a result of our health system that is in dire need of more support.”

Mwesigwa said junior doctors were often more at risk.

“They find themselves at the bottom of the food chain and the organisation is inundated with complaints from junior doctors who suffer from depression or anxiety,” she said.

Mwesigwa said Judasa was calling for medical practitioners working conditions to be improved and for additional support to be brought in.

“The health system needs junior doctors, and that is why the Western Cape Health Department reduced their working hours to a maximum of 26 hours to reduce stress.”

The national Health Department said it was looking at ways to improve the working conditions of doctors and is driving various campaigns to shed light on mental illness.

“Health professionals are engaged about these issues through different modalities. Among others these include training, public awareness campaigns, through professional associations as well as the Health Professions Council which regulates practice,” said national department spokesperson Foster Mohale.