Thank you for drawing attention to the conditions junior doctors may have to cope with ("Hospital working hours cut after death of junior doctor", The Herald, June 19).
I am privileged to have four in my extended family; they are contemporaries of Lauren Connelly. There has long been a concern about their driving tired after long shifts, her death highlighted it. They agreed that they would not drive if tired but what else can they do? Hospitals do not provide anywhere to rest.
My daughter accepted a job with Tayside Health Board and moved to Dundee. She was then told she would be seconded to Forth Valley Hospital in Larbert for several months - a distance of about 60 miles away from home. Her shifts, both day and night, can last up to 13 hours. She is exhausted at the end of a shift so takes the train - a commute of two hours each way. That means a 17 hour day - a maximum of seven hours sleep before the next shift. This is a training post so she is also supposed to be studying for exams. The BMA has not been helpful. Hospital management managed to find a bed for two nights in Falkirk district general hospital (three miles away so she cycled). Since then no bed has been found.
How can this be good for patient care?
Rona Henderson,
Braidcraft Road,
Pollok, Glasgow.
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