Doctors to be asked about growing fatigue

The General Medical Council (GMC) has said that it will be asking doctors about their experiences of fatigue in the workplace as part of the 2018 national training survey.

The GMC’s 2017 survey reported that over 40 per cent of trainee doctors found their daily workloads as ‘heavy’ or ‘very heavy’, while 22 per cent admitted to feeling sleep-deprived while at work.

With similar results expected this year, the GMC said that questions on fatigue in the workplace were timely in light of the ever-growing pressures on staff and the NHS.

Colin Melville, director of education and standards, said: “We recognise that this is a challenging time. Many doctors are very concerned about the system pressures across all four UK countries and we know that this winter has been particularly hard for both doctors in training and trainers. Each year’s NTS results help the GMC, medical education bodies and local organisations, to make sure trainees are receiving high-quality training, and that trainers are properly supported.”

The British Medical Association’s Junior Doctors Committee has also produced a Fatigue and Facilities Charter, which seeks to address the whole spectrum of factors contributing to sleep deprivation and fatigue.