Your working hours - are they safe?

What is the impact on the working hours of a GP registrar on fatigue, stress, patient care, and safety? GPRA recently released a discussion paper about safe working hours. Some of these issues are particularly relevant to rural GP registrars.

“The opportunity to acquire the advanced procedural and emergency skills that are provided in rural and remote training practices is highly regarded by most registrars,” says Dr Emily Farrell, GPRA Policy Director, “However, we need transparency in work hour expectation, and fatigue mitigation strategies, to ensure registrars are not deterred from continuing to work in rural and remote areas."

Read the full media release at the GPRA website, and the discussion paper at www.gpra.org.au/position-papers.

You may also be aware that the Australian Medical Association is conduction their annual survey of the working hours of junior doctors, which includes GP registrars for the first time this year. Please also consider participating in this survey. You can complete the audit by visiting http://safehours.ama.com.au.