Sir, – I note your article conveying the consequences of certain doctors working large numbers of overtime hours ("Fifteen junior doctors receive over ¤100,000 in overtime pay amid Covid-19 pressures", News, January 25th).
Let us consider an alternative.
If our health system employed more doctors, the doctors in that system could work fewer hours, commit fewer mistakes, spend less time rushing and more time communicating with patients, feel less guilty about calling in sick, save the hospitals money on overtime pay, save the State money by choosing not to emigrate, spend more time with our families, sleep more, eat better, drive more safely, write more legibly, and provide better care to patients.
Sounds good to me.
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Doctors are ordinary people with ordinary limits. It is time that we bring about systems of work that reflect those limits, rather than ignoring them. – Yours, etc,
Dr DOMHNALL
McGLACKEN-BYRNE,
Dublin 2.