Overworked doctors admit to fatal mistakes

BRISBANE - Queensland public hospital doctors have killed patients after being forced to work shifts of up to 80 hours without a break, a survey has found.

The Salaried Doctors Queensland (SDQ) union survey, which confidentially surveyed more than 100 doctors, found 59 per cent of doctors had made mistakes in performing procedures while tired, two of which led to the death of patients.

After working 45 hours non-stop, one doctor told the survey one of his elderly patients died after he forgot to check on them, which resulted in an intravenous fluid overload.

"I am still having nightmares," the doctor said.

The survey also found 80 per cent of doctors had prescribed the wrong medication while fatigued and 87 per cent said they often had no choice but to continue working while tired.

One doctor told the survey a patient was prescribed 10 times more morphine than was needed.

Another doctor warned about getting surgery at public hospitals over weekend periods.

"If I was a patient I would not go to a public hospital over the weekend for an operation," the doctor said.

"You're likely to be operated on by someone who does not remember what their name is, let alone what bit to take out."

SDQ industrial relations adviser Susannah McAuliffe said the organisation had repeatedly tried to discuss the issue of tired doctors with Queensland Health. "The Queensland Government has since offered a pay increase to salaried doctors. However, the reality is that discussing pay is only a distraction from the real issue," she said.

"Reducing incidents of dangerously fatigued doctors treating Queensland patients is the core issue that must be resolved."

McAuliffe said a January report showed Queensland had the highest level of medical errors of any state.

She said doctors were rostered on for shifts, but it was the words "on call" that led to doctors being fatigued.

"The difficulty is that Queensland Health are tricky with how they define working hours," she said. "[We are now] seeking shifts that are limited to 12 hours, continuous 10-hour rest breaks between shifts, and a transparent mechanism to ensure that these rules are not broken by hospital administrators," she said.

Tired on the job

59 per cent of doctors admitted to making mistakes in performing procedures while tired.

80 per cent had prescribed the wrong medication while tired.

87 per cent said they often had no choice but to continue working while tired.

- AAP