Doctors/consultants Hours

[in a mo]

So the government are pressing ahead with Hospital Consultants and Doctors 7 days a week ,obviously this does not mean they must work 7 days it just means that the hospital /wards must be covered for this time ,It is unbelievable that if you are in a Hospital over a weekend there are very few doctors working also apart from Emergencies Theatres are usually closed over the weekend what a complete waste of money having all the equipment letf idol some of which is on Hire.
Remember many NHS Consultants also take on Private work also working out of the very Hospital that employs then on a so called full time basis.

[Ric.ror]

I once had a minor op at 4am in the morning as they kept the theatre open all night

[Sqad]

Do you think it unreasonable that hospital consultants have time off?
Can you think of any other Public Sector worker that works 7 days a week?
Hospitals are covered "nominally" by a consultant every day and every weekend, but you are correct, usually the weekend is covered by junior staff who "can" call on the consultant.

Yes, NHS Consultants can do private work, but they take a drop in salary despite committing "whole time" to the NHS work.

Nurses, ancillary staff also need time off, i think that you would agree, but one cannot run an operating theatre without porters and nurses.

Weekends have always been staffed by junior staff on a rota basis and depending on the quality of such staff will depend upon the safety of the patient.

What would your solution be?

[bednobs]

it's been well known for a while that statistically, if you are admitted at a weekend, you are likely to have a poorer outcome. However, what about physios/ots working at the weekends too?

[bednobs]

they are not asking consultants to work 7 days a week sqad - but that there be a full staff cover on each day. A bit like nurses who staff the wards - if you work a weekend, you get 2 days off in hte week

[Sqad]

bednobs.......yes, you are correct..........just at weekends, but would that mean that they would have 2 days off during the week to compensate?

[bednobs]

why not? i would imagine they work the on call stuff on top of their full timeness anyway don't they? At least this

[bednobs]

way you can actually have time off when you have time off i suppose

[237SJ]

Yes, they would have two days off a week to compensate. That`s how shift work works.

[Sqad]

So one would have 2 days off in the week ( no OP's or Operating sessions), but at the weekend Out Patients and Operating?......No! No! that can't be correct.

The Consultant would be named as "on call" at the weekend, but the juniors would do the work.....SO.......that is what happens now.

What would change?

[marval]

I was admitted to my local hospital on a Saturday night, I had broken my elbow. It was operated on the Sunday afternoon.

It is nice to think that there are doctors/consultants working at the weekends. As long as they agree to it.

[Peter Pedant]

// there are very few doctors working also apart from Emergencies Theatres are usually closed //

typo surely - emergency theatres are usually available 24/7

// obviously this does not mean they must work 7 days //

no it is not obvious - there was a lot of hard work put into stopping doctors being forced to do a days work, night resident on call and then two lists/two clinics the next day. [ 9 - 5 agreed but 9 on one day to 5 on the next ]

No it is not obvious what he wants

[Peter Pedant]

// What would change? //

I think they are trying to introduce routine operating for example or clinics at the week end - on top of the emergency services

without necessarlly altering anything else - labs, ( admin of course) Blood transfusion, X ray ( god who needs them ? )

so they arent trying to alter on call - the consultants already do on call and spent a decent amount of time now inside the Hospital

but are trying to get "continental shifts" 9-5 working for routine work as well, for those not on call ....

The consultants already accept the need for on call cover and to come in but not necessarily contintental shifts .....

when I was stuck on a trolley in North Manchester Cas for ten hours
I wasnt worried by lack of a consultant as I told the reg I had AF. No beta blockers in Cas ( ! er what, excuse me ? ) and one tab was carried down from a ward at Hour 8 like the Pope carrying a consecrated host....

There were five of us needing admission and the medical reg declined to see any of us on the grounds that he couldnt monitor treatment if he initiated it. -which I thought was fair enough TBH

I was found a bed at 4am having gone to cas at 6 pm the previous day

[Baldric]

A Consultant that I saw a number of times before my Op. last August always gave me an Appointment on a Saturday morning.

[Mamyalynne]

I have noticed for the past year or too an increase in evening appointments for routine tests such as scans/X Rays etc.

Also a number of elective minor surgeries done on Saturdays, so it is being implemented to a point in some Hospitals.

[Mamyalynne]

^ year or two

[237SJ]

I have also had tests - namely MRI in the evening. That`s because the work is contracted out to the Inhealth Group.

[BAKERS DOZEN]

As I said in my "Happy Birthday" post I have been going to four different hospitals over the past eighteen months (greedy I know) and my appointments at Salford Royal have all been on a Saturday or Sunday morning. 8.30am on a Sunday seemed weird at first but no traffic and easy parking meant by 9.30am I was on my way home with the Sunday papers. Great. Ideal for workers who then don't need to take time off work. It is one of the top performing hospitals in the country so they must be doing something right. All the consultants I've seen seem quite happy with the system.

[pixie374]

It's about time. They would just be on rotas, sqad. The same as every other job that needs 24/7 cover.

[Sqad]

pixie........Consultants are ALREADY on rotas.

What more do you want?

[pixie374]

Cover when it's needed?