The impact of litigation upon individual doctors is enormously stressful. Fatigue is no defence for negligence by a doctor in an action by a patient. The courts, both in Australia and overseas, have already expressed concern about the role of fatigue as a contributing factor in medical mishap. A nationwide policy on doctors' hours must be preferred to the current practice, where legal judgments impose recommendations on an individual basis after mishaps. Fatigue results in bad medicine Arduous duty schedules for doctors have traditionally been viewed as part of the rites of passage into the medical profession.
Doctors work long hours, sometimes extending into meal breaks, rest and leisure time.
Medicolegal aspects of fatigue Doctors have an ethical and medicolegal obligation to provide an acceptable standard of medical care. A doctor's professional obligations are not abrogated by hospital directives or policy. Tired doctors may make errors, fail to spend adequate time with patients, fail to communicate effectively with patients and fail to complete appropriate case notes. 6 Psychological mismanagement of patients can generate complaints and litigation even when the medical management has been exemplary. The impact upon a doctor's professional and private life of receiving a complaint must not be underestimated.