Junior doctors at Canberra Hospital under stress due to overwork

The Australian Medical Association conducted the survey last year and it was open to doctors in training in the ACT's public health system.

It found many junior doctors were being overworked and had poor access to training and professional development.

More than three quarters - 77 per cent - of the Canberra Hospital doctors surveyed were concerned for their personal health and safety because of fatigue.

The survey found Canberra Hospital junior medical officers complained about late changes to rosters and being rostered on to work a day shift after seven night shifts without adequate rest.

Doctors also said some departments had blanket rules that un-rostered overtime was never paid while confusing pay slips made it almost impossible to verify that overtime had been paid properly.

Just three per cent of doctors reported working a standard 80 hour fortnight, while 52 per cent worked between one and 15 hours overtime; 29 per cent between 16 and 30 hours overtime; and 16 per cent worked more than 30 hours overtime.

The association's ACT president Dr Antonio Di Dio said he remembered the stress and pain of being a young doctor, highlighting the importance of hospitals taking their young doctors' wellbeing seriously.

“When I was young I had colleagues who took their own lives,” he said.

“You're isolated and in a demanding job where it is absolutely taboo to say you are struggling.”

He said some of the survey results raised serious concerns.

“These people are deserving of respect and a safe workplace,” Dr Di Dio said.

“If they are reporting these sorts of answers then it needs further attention.

“I think at the very least I would ask the people in charge to do their own assessment of whether how the young people have reported feeling meets their expectations of their workplace."

He said managers may not know how young doctors were coping as junior staff would be unlikely to feel comfortable enough to come forward.

The survey also found 42 per cent of respondents had experienced bullying or harassment while 39 per cent had witnessed a colleague being bullied or harassed.

Young doctors at Canberra Hospital reported significant issues with the hospital's training culture.

More than 50 per cent of respondents rated the hospital as either poor or very poor in that category.

Not one respondent rated it as excellent.

Dr Di Dio said he heard direct reports of subtle but deliberate forms of bullying of young doctors at the hospital.

“A lot of it is perhaps denying people appropriate leave, or rostering them in a way that is deliberately unfair," he said.

“Quite often young doctors feel they are a labour source and nothing else, to be discarded when they are no longer of use."

A Canberra Health Services spokeswoman said the hospital was committed to providing a safe workplace for its staff and making their health and wellbeing a key priority.

She said a number of initiatives were in place to promote the health and wellbeing of young doctors.

These included managers encouraging junior doctors to take accrued days off, mentorship by senior clinicians, and professional development activities including sessions on avoiding burnout.

She said the service's junior doctor workforce had increased by 30 per cent over the last nine years.

"We note that the [Australian Medical Association] has not provided details of the sample size for this survey which makes it difficult to assess how widespread the reported issues are," the spokeswoman said.

"However, we take these matters very seriously.

"We will continue to work with relevant teams to ensure rostering and overtime are managed fairly and appropriately.

"While [Canberra Health Services] acknowledges there are issues affecting morale and culture within the organisation, we are working collaboratively across the organisation to address these. Staff have expressed ‘cautious optimism’ about this process.

"Payslips are prepared by the ACT Government’s Shared Services area. We have noted the feedback in relation to payslips and will provide it to them."