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Safety and the flying doctor

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Cappuccio, Francesco P. and Lockley, Steven B.. (2008) Safety and the flying doctor. BMJ, Vol.336 (No.7637). p. 218. ISSN 0959-535X

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39468.659051.59

Abstract

Interest, curiosity, or dismay—which feeling predominates when we learn from BBC Newsnight that our NHS employs doctors who commute from Poland to cover the out of hours duties that local GPs are unable to work because they are too tired at night? Is it interest in an innovative solution for modern pan-European healthcare provision, curiosity in discovering huge variations in the standard of living across the medical profession in an open Europe, or dismay that the government’s emphasis, that healthcare practice should be based on the best scientific evidence, is little more than lip service? Working continuously for a long time, particularly at night, increases the risk of making errors and causing injury, which is why many professions limit the number of hours of continuous duty. These risks also apply to the medical profession: tired doctors make mistakes that harm patients (N Engl J Med 2004;351:1838-48) and themselves

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	R Medicine > R Medicine (General) H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare
Divisions:	Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Metabolic and Vascular Health Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Physicians, Fatigue, Hours of labor
Journal or Publication Title:	BMJ
Publisher:	BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.
ISSN:	0959-535X
Date:	26 January 2008
Volume:	Vol.336
Number:	No.7637
Page Range:	p. 218
Identification Number:	10.1136/bmj.39468.659051.59
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/173