Police probe hours junior doctors work

News Reporter

Monday 25 June 2012

POLICE have questioned junior doctors at a hospital about their shift patterns and rest breaks as part of an investigation into the death of a young medic in a car crash as she drove home from her first night-shift.

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Helen McArdle

Lauren Connelly was days away from her 24th birthday when her Vauxhall Corsa careered off the M8 motorway and struck a tree last September, as she returned from work at Inverclyde Royal Hospital in Greenock.

Her death prompted calls for an inquiry into shift patterns among junior doctors after friends said she had voiced concerns about being exhausted and overworked in the lead-up to the crash. Now it has emerged officers from Strathclyde Police have spoken to other junior doctors at the hospital about their working hours and rest breaks as part of their probe into Dr Connelly's death. A source said: "A number of junior doctors have been have been interviewed by the police. As well as asking about Lauren, they were asking about rotas, sleeping arrangements for on-call doctors and asking whether staff had ever been forced to lie about their hours."Dr Connelly, from East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, lost control of the car near Bishopton in Renfrewshire before it careered down an embankment and ploughed into a tree. She was pronounced dead at the scene. She had just come off duty following a night-shift when the accident happened at around 9.40am on September 17. She had only been in her post for a few weeks. Police investigating the crash at the time would not be drawn on whether Dr Connelly could have fallen asleep at the wheel.Questions were raised last year following the results of a General Medical Council survey checking compliance rates among NHS hospitals across the UK in relation to the European Working Time Directive, legislation that came into force in 2009, which limits a doctor's working week to 48 hours. Inverclyde Royal was among the hospitals that fared worst in the survey, where half of respondents said they felt under pressure to lie about their working hours. The hospital scored 17 out of 100 for compliance with EU working-time regulations, one of the lowest scores of any hospital in the UK.Dr David Reid, depute chairman of the Scottish Junior Doctors Committee, said he welcomed an investgation highlighting the problems of excessive hours among young medics. He said: "The vast majority of rotas in Scotland are compliant but there are a few here and there which for whatever reason are not. This could be because of someone suddenly going off sick or because of maternity cover. "Some rotas are worse than others, such as in an accident and emergency unit, which could be more antisocial than a general medical ward because of the unpredictability of the cases it handles. "But I would hope if any junior doctor was being subjected to harassment or bullying about recording the actual hours they work, they would contact the BMA. Any attempt to get them to do anything else constitutes fraud."A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) said "junior doctors work within compliant rotas as per the new deal for junior doctor arrangements. NHSGGC is also focused in ensuring doctors take appropriate rest breaks during their shifts."A Strathclyde Police said they could not comment on a continuing investigation. He said: "We are not in a position to say who we have or haven't interviewed in the Lauren Connelly case because it is still an ongoing investigation."

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Police probe hours junior doctors work

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