Abused doctors 'must be protected'

Junior doctors who are victimised at work or subjected to unfair labour practices can report abuses without fear.

Professor Leslie London, of the Public Health Movement, said young doctors were being put through the wringer unfairly and more needed to be done to protect them.

"Doctors face occupational hazards of many sorts [and] young health workers have difficulty asserting their rights in the health system," London said.

"We want to introduce a system for alerting the health system to problems and protecting young doctors who report victimisation. Because of fear of victimisation there is very little incentive for doctors to report incidents [of abuse]."

Problems such as working 30-hour shifts were among the topics of a panel discussion and public debate at Tygerberg Hospital yesterday.

Only a few months ago a junior doctor, Ilne Markwat, was killed in a car crash. She fell asleep at the wheel while returning home after completing a 30-hour shift at Paarl Hospital.

In July, 28-year-old doctor Yumna Moosa posted a video online detailing the harassment she allegedly endured from a senior doctor. After making numerous complaints Moosa was found to be incompetent by her superiors and was not allowed to finish her internship.

The secretary-general of the People's Health Movement, Michael van Niekerk, said policy and legislative changes were needed to improve the situation of junior doctors.

"There are many doctors who [die or] are injured during and after shifts," Van Niekerk said.

"There are also medical errors due to exhaustion. Doctors aren't making good decisions when they're tired. Evidence shows that working beyond 16 hours has a severe negative cognitive effect on anyone. It makes doctors unsafe.

"The current situation is not doing the community or the health professions any good."

Last month Western Cape health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo said that junior doctors would work a maximum of 24 hours a shift from January.

Moosa said the standard labour practices that apply to most workers should apply to doctors too.

"As caregivers, doctors need to be looked after in order to provide that care," she said.