Staff at Gold Coast University Hospital and Robina Hospital are concerned they’ll make an error due to fatigue, new AMA survey reveals
Pandemic weary doctors are at breaking point across Gold Coast hospitals, with fears exhaustion on the job will lead to them making medical mistakes.
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Pandemic weary doctors are at breaking point across Gold Coast hospitals, with fears exhaustion on the job will lead to them making medical mistakes.
Half of the junior doctors anonymously surveyed by the Australian Medical Association Queensland were concerned they’d make a clinical error due to fatigue.
Staff also aren’t being paid for unrostered overtime, and nearly 70 per cent of workers at Gold Coast hospitals feel like they can’t report bullying or discrimination for fear of negative consequences.
“I can tell you without a doubt that all the doctors, not only junior, are fatigued,” said a doctor, who spoke out anonymously.
“The system does not support front line staff. The red tape is a big hindrance. The bureaucracy imposes things on frontline staff which does not help efficient, safe, or high-quality care,” they said.
“I feel for my colleagues who struggle. There is so much depression and even suicide.”
The doctor said more than half of Queensland Health staff were no clinical, yet it was short on doctors and nurses.
“There have been times when Gold Coast Health over the last couple of years have been short 30 to 60 doctors to my knowledge. Nurses are often doing double shifts.
“Being already under-resourced, I wonder how we will do if there is a Covid influx. Apart from the staff shortages, to my knowledge there have only been six or so intensive care beds added in the entire state over the last year or so.”
The grave admission comes after the November 30 release of the AMA Queensland’s 2021 Resident Hospital Health Check, a public hospital report card that includes results from 808 interns, house officer and other junior doctors across the state.
The report found that 51 per cent of those surveyed cited fatigue due to working excessively long hours as a significant concern.
This is up from 48 per cent in 2020 and 45 per cent in 2019.
Overall, the Gold Coast University Hospital scored a C+, the same as 2020.
But Robina Hospital slipped from a C+ in 2020 to a C in 2021. Of the 21 hospitals rated, six were rated a C, nine a C+, four B- and two B.
At GCUH, 41 per cent of staff said they had experienced or witnessed bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment, with 69 per cent of workers feeling there may be negative consequence for reporting it.
Half of the staff surveyed at Robina Hospital said they were concerned about making a clinical error due to fatigue caused by hours worked, with this figure 43 per cent at GCUH.
Gold Coast Medical Practice board chairman Dr Kat McLean said while the community “may rejoice in borders opening, the reaction among those on the frontline is trepidation”.
“The pandemic impact is occurring across hospitals and community settings. I’m hearing frequent reports of GP retiring early, cutting back hours, or moving into non clinical work,” she said.
Dr McLean said increased fatigue increased the risk of mistakes, and system impacted significantly on the wellbeing and mental health of doctors, especially trainees.
“More must be done to support all healthcare workers. They are a resource that must be valued. They are human beings not cogs in a wheel,” she said.
AMA Queensland Council of Doctors in Training co-chairs, doctors Robert Nayer and Natasha Abeysekera, said the upward trend revealed in this year’s results was a wakeup call from frontline health workers to the hospital system.
“Thirty per cent of survey respondents also told us they had felt unsafe at work this year, up from 27 per cent in 2020 and 22 per cent in 2019,” said Dr Nayer.
Dr Abeysekera said there had been a small increase in the rates of bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment in Queensland’s public hospitals over the past couple of years, but a noticeable drop in satisfaction with the way these incidents were handled.
“Just over a third of junior doctors have personally experienced these abhorrent behaviours and 41 per cent said they had witnessed bullying, discrimination or sexual harassment in our hospitals,” she said.
Dr Nayer said the pandemic had added additional pressures on clinical staff and more than ever, hospitals needed to provide a safe, supportive environment for junior doctors.
“They are essential workers and we need to train and retain the next generation of doctors in
workplaces where they are respected and appreciated, so that they in turn can provide excellent patient care,” he said.
“These trainee doctors are working exceedingly long hours, often in a very stressful environment, and this can leave some members of the profession vulnerable to anxiety and depression.
“We do not want to see anyone exit the profession early, due to inadequate safeguards and support.”
The AMA Queensland has requested an additional $1.97m in the last State Budget to expand the Wellbeing at Work program but the funds have not yet been committed.
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