Most young doctors spend more than ten hours a day in the clinic. Fatigue leads to more and more wrong treatments. Every two people suffer from burnout symptoms.
Andrea works as an assistant doctor at the Charité Hospital in Berlin. She wanted to remain anonymous so as not to jeopardize her career advancement. Her reports will blow your mind: she sometimes works more than 24 hours. She often has experiences of “not being able to go to the bathroom because we’re constantly bombarded with work.”
According to the employment contract, the work week should end after 42 hours. In fact, Andrea said there were weeks when she worked more than 80 hours. Including overtime pay, she didn’t remember it at all. For the sake of her career, her superiors “advised against” doing so.
health seriously affected
Also, there are on-call hours, which according to Andreas are not official normal working hours. According to a collective agreement, when she is on duty, she can only work half the time. But their reality is different. She calculates that she uses the on-call service 70% to 90% of the time.
Apparently, many doctors under the age of 35 feel the same way as Andrea. According to a study by the Professional Association for Health Services and Welfare, 71% of respondents worked more than 48 hours per week. According to a survey by the Marburger Bund doctors’ union, 20 percent of doctors work more than 60 hours a week.
Every two people have symptoms of burnout
Affected physicians report that they are often unable to do the things they often advise their patients to do—reduce stress, eat healthy, and take care of themselves. This has consequences: according to research cited by the Professional Association for Health Services and Welfare, nearly 64 percent of respondents responded that their health was poor.
Fifty-six percent reported symptoms of burnout, or more than half of everyone. According to the study, this means “significant health hazards exist under current working conditions”.
many doctors in drug effects
Prof. Reinhard Strametz from the Wiesbaden Institute for Patient Safety can confirm this. To withstand these loads, many physicians work under the influence of drugs. This is bad for doctors and “a threat to patient safety”.
In fact, a sharp increase in error rates is another consequence of working long hours. The results of the international research were evaluated by the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. According to this, the frequency of errors increases significantly after eight hours of work per day, and doubles after twelve hours.
“Too often we ignore diagnosis or start treatment too late,” reports an assistant physician at Charité to plusminus, who did not want to be named. It can also be fatal if the emergency is not detected in time.
Clinic chiefs and federal government see no problem
Charité did not give a specific answer to questions about residents’ working hours. The reason: they don’t know the people affected. In principle, the clinic wrote, it complies with legal requirements.
The Federal Department of Health refers to collective bargaining partners. Employer associations interviewed, such as Charité, denied that there would be such an hourly workload. The Marburger Bund, the largest physician advocacy group, stresses that on-call services are actually heavily regulated.
However, probably due to lack of funds and personnel, the responsible national authorities have no control measures. Marburger Bund requires state offices to conduct more frequent inspections to curb abuse of on-call services.
working long hours is a burden health care system
The mentioned studies confirm the need for action. Significant overtime and on-call responsibilities put pressure on clinicians’ health and job satisfaction. This also leads to doctors paying for the treatment themselves.
Meanwhile, one in four doctors is considering a career change, according to a survey by the Marburg Association. Given the shortage of doctors in clinics, this is shocking news.
Additionally, more than 60 percent of medical graduates are women, according to the Marburg Association. Women in Germany are still mainly responsible for domestic work. Working 50 hours or more per week is often enough time for women who want to have children to seek alternatives outside the clinic.