Editorial: Doctors worked beyond limits

Malta’s public health system faces formidable challenges caused by wrong strategic decisions taken in the recent past, a growing and ageing population, workforce shortages and outdated working practices.

The consequences of all these factors are that patients' safety is at risk and taxpayers are not getting the value for the money they deserve.

A research paper by Alexander Clayman, a trainee psychiatrist, has exposed the fault lines in working practices that subject junior doctors to long hours of continuous work leading to excessive fatigue, burnout and escalating risks to patients’ safety.

It is generally acknowledged that the medical profession has a strong cultural association with intense, demanding work. This is partly because people can get sick at any time of the day and expect immediate professional attention.

However, Clayman’s report gives a worrying insight into a culture in which the punishing hours worked are an almost inextricable part of doctors’ professional identity.

The report claims that doctors in many departments work 30-32 hours at a stretch. Unsurprisingly, the author argues: “This has been proven to have a negative impact on staff’s mental and physical...