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   Emeritus Prof Christopher May (chrismayla6@zirk.us)'s status on Tuesday, 10-Oct-2023 06:58:29 JST Emeritus Prof Christopher May

   Hmmm.... so #KeirStarmer's 'plan' for the #NHScrisis is to start off by 'encouraging' staff to work overtime to help start to clear the backlog, while they wait for investment to kick-in.

   He claims the staff are 'up for this because they know that bringing down the waiting list will reduce the pressure on them in the long run'.... OK... but presumably only for the short time before his long(er) term plan comes not focus...

   Getting already burnt out staff to work (even) harder is a big risk!

   • Embed this notice
     Bethany Black (bethanyblack@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 10-Oct-2023 06:58:25 JST Bethany Black

     in reply to

     • Charlie Stross
     • Token Sane Person
     • JelliedHeals

     @tokensane @cstross @JelliedHeals @ChrisMayLA6

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     Token Sane Person (tokensane@mastodon.me.uk)'s status on Tuesday, 10-Oct-2023 06:58:26 JST Token Sane Person

     in reply to

     • Charlie Stross
     • JelliedHeals

     @cstross @JelliedHeals @ChrisMayLA6
     There also seems to be a cultural thing going on. Senior doctors have repeatedly argued that junior doctors *have* to work those long hours to get enough experience. Seems like, because they had to do it to get qualified, they can't imagine that it wasn't necessary.

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     JelliedHeals (jelliedheals@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 10-Oct-2023 06:58:27 JST JelliedHeals

     in reply to

     @ChrisMayLA6 I worked in A/E (or ED if that's your bag), and trust me, no one, and I really mean *No One* will be volunteering for any time over and above the 12 hour shifts that they already work. (UK, other countries may be different)

     The pressure, the grind, the abuse - (but also the feeling of accomplishment when things did go right for nice but very frightened people) turned every shift into a physical and emotional roller-coast ride.

     Or maybe I have just got too used to retirement :)

   • Embed this notice
     Charlie Stross (cstross@wandering.shop)'s status on Tuesday, 10-Oct-2023 06:58:27 JST Charlie Stross

     in reply to

     • JelliedHeals

     @JelliedHeals @ChrisMayLA6 There's plenty of evidence that people engaged in high cognitive workload tasks make increasing numbers of mistakes if they work over 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week. We put strict limits on how many hours airline pilots or train drivers can work to avoid lethal outcomes—why not medical professionals too?

     (That was a rhetorical question: you know why and I know why, but the folks with the money refuse to recognize they need to pay for 50% more medical professionals.)

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     Bethany Black (bethanyblack@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 11-Oct-2023 17:53:36 JST Bethany Black

     in reply to

     • Charlie Stross
     • Token Sane Person
     • JelliedHeals

     @tokensane @cstross @JelliedHeals @ChrisMayLA6 by the way, I wasn’t being flippant, a friend who’s now a gyn/obs surgeon wrote an article about this exact thing, that it’s survivorship bias and needs addressing

   • Embed this notice
     Simon Lucy (simon_lucy@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 11-Oct-2023 18:21:55 JST Simon Lucy

     in reply to

     • Charlie Stross
     • Bethany Black
     • Token Sane Person
     • JelliedHeals

     @BethanyBlack @tokensane @cstross @JelliedHeals @ChrisMayLA6

     If it means nurses don't need three jobs to maintain their life, one of which may well be health care, then it may well have benefits. From consultants as a resource it's going to have to come down to NHS work taking priority over elective private work.

     That doesn't necessarily mean overtime in the understood sense of most people.

     Resource management is one of the many sins of the NHS.