Overworked doctors

Should a doctor working in a public hospital be liable for injury caused due to fatigue?
In Queensland, Australia, the answer is yes. The Health Practitioners Tribunal found that "the Health Practitioners (Professional Standards) Act 1999 which prevented the board from taking into account Dr Doneman’s relative inexperience, the long shift and a culture at Caloundra Hospital of not admitting children for observation."

The doctor was working in his 20th hour of a 24 hour shift.

I'll blog more about this later. Doctors who are migrating to Australia should be aware that under existing Commonwealth laws, they will not be able to work in metropolitan areas as GPs for 10 years. The only options available are to work in the hospital doing horrid hours, or to work in the bush. Those who are contemplating migrating in the near future and who need this information right away can email me on teyc@cognoware.com.