Sir, – I refer to Gordon Deegan’s article on overtime being paid to junior doctors (HEALTHplus, February 28th).
I wish to highlight that excessive hours being worked by many junior doctors in Ireland are not by choice. Four months into my career as a junior doctor I worked a 140-hour week, including one shift extending from Tuesday morning to Thursday evening, equating to 60 hours.
Some would say I earned an outrageous amount of overtime on this shift, while I remember it as one of the worst experiences of my life. I would have swapped it for a regular eight-hour shift without thinking twice, but I didn’t have a choice. – Yours, etc,