Ministers wrong to conceal report on doctors’ long hours
The Scottish Government was wrong to hide details of an official report into junior doctors’ working hours, according to the Information Commissioner.
The ruling follows a campaign by the father of a junior doctor who died because of long hours as a hospital doctor.
Brian Connelly’s daughter Lauren, 23, died after crashing while driving home, exhausted after a shift at Inverclyde Royal Hospital.
Connelly, of East Kilbride, said Lauren started her job with a roster of 90 hours over just 10 days. He lobbied the Scottish Government to introduce a 48-hour working week for junior doctors and it set up a working party group to investigate.
However, the Scottish Government withheld the working group’s final 21-page report, eventually releasing a version with 37 pieces of information hidden, saying it was not in the public interest to publish the redactions. Connelly appealed and was given the report with 29 redactions.
He asked the Information Commissioner to rule on whether there were valid reasons to redact the report. The Scottish Government then released the report ahead of the decision. Connelly said: “The Information Commissioner ruled that the Scottish Government were wrong to withhold publication saying that the Scottish Ministers failed to comply with part one of the Freedom of Information Act in failing to respond to the information request. “The Information Commissioner’s decision is a small victory and I feel vindicated for arguing that the report should have been published. The Scottish Government says it is committed to implementing the 48-hour working week without averaging for junior doctors and have promised to update me on progress.”
The Scottish Government said: “The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care met with Mr Connelly on November 8 to reaffirm the commitment to implementing the report’s recommendations and discuss progress that has been made so far.
“This includes guidance to NHS Boards to limit consecutive days of long shifts and provide ongoing wellbeing support; a 24/7 National Wellbeing Helpline; confidential mental health treatment and funding for additional local psychological support.”