Average NCHD Hours

Jentle Grenade

Hi all,

I did find a few older threads on this issue but I'd like a few opinions. My OH is a first year reg in a teaching hospital outside the capital. Since July she has pretty much worked a 70 hour standard week excluding any call time.
Some weeks can be quite extreme and some can be better but generally speaking the hours are frankly insane. This all came to a head last week when she had to spend a night in ED on a drip. She was signed off for a few days but back to the same situation this week.

Is this just the standard here for a registrar? How do you balance work and personal/family life in this situation?

Pugzilla

What speciality is she in? Some like surgery or OB/GYN are worse.

70 hours/ week isn't that much. Some NCHDs have had 120 hour weeks in the past.

I know of females that never had families because of the time commitments. Hospital medicine in general entails sh*t hours.

his_dudeness

Can I ask which hospital? or even which town/city? There has been a lot of changes (in some areas) over the last year which should have changed things, it's pretty hard to do 70hour weeks without a >24hour shift thrown in there somewhere, and they're being eradicated bit by bit.

The specialty she's in can have an impact too, as Pugzilla said.

IrishSkyBoxer

working in the hospital is pretty ****. your oh doesn't even have it half bad. there are nchds working 80/90 hour weeks and getting paid for 39 hours.

the system here is an absolute farce and the life of a junior doctor is absolutely fcuking misery. they are pure and simple service jobs, with next to no emphasis on teaching. it is a decade of misery and personal and mental health suffering if you want to ever make it as a consultant and even after that decade there is no guarantee you will be a consultant or that there will be a job for you.

I frankly can't imagine why anyone would do a training scheme in this country unless they were out of their minds. it is quite simply masochism.

nchds have two options. emigrate. america being the only option if you want to become a consultant. uk being the only option if you want a life.

or else jump on a gp scheme asap and save yourself the suffering. the toil just isn't worth what the job does to every other facet of your life.

Nonoperational

You're talking ****. What stage are u at? Med student is it?

IrishSkyBoxer

do u deny the hse exists to provide merely an inadequate service as opposed to training competent and highly skilled doctors?

Jentle Grenade

Sorry for the delay in replying. Mad few days in work myself. My OH is based in Cork and in oncology (don't want to be too identifiable!). The 70 hour weeks are the good weeks, the bad weeks are the insane 100+ weeks with ridiculous call hours and the like.

Kids etc isn't much of a concern for either of us. I support her 100% as she does love her job but when it starts becoming detrimental to her own health though I can't help but worry. I have an intense career myself but I can still manage seven hours of continuous sleep most nights.

She is prone to being a workaholic so I was wondering if she was working more than others at her level. The only people I can compare her hours with are two friends who both work in respiratory and work even more hours than she does.

Nonoperational

IrishSkyBoxer wrote: »

do u deny the hse exists to provide merely an inadequate service as opposed to training competent and highly skilled doctors?

Answer the question. What stage are you at? Are you are basing your "argument" on hearsay or do you have experience of it yourself?

Training is variable and depends on where you are and who you are with. I happen to really like my job and am very happy going to work every day.

masterboy123

I am in psychiatry (SHO level) and I work around 60 hours/week. Happy days

IrishSkyBoxer

Nonoperational wrote: »

Answer the question. What stage are you at? Are you are basing your "argument" on hearsay or do you have experience of it yourself?

Training is variable and depends on where you are and who you are with. I happen to really like my job and am very happy going to work every day.

I'm an nchd basing my argument on first hand experience. How many people on the bst medical scheme at present will ever make it to consultancy? How much will those who do make it sacrifice to get there

his_dudeness

IrishSkyBoxer wrote: »

I'm an nchd basing my argument on first hand experience. How many people on the bst medical scheme at present will ever make it to consultancy? How much will those who do make it sacrifice to get there

You're question seems to assume that everyone who starts a medical BST wants to be a consultant, many don't. Only about 20% of people starting training programmes end up in consultancy posts.

Historically, at least half of all graduating classes end up in General Practice.

The question of sacrifice is not unique to medicine, every successful sportsperson, business person, politician, etc make sacrifices to further their careers. There are few who do both professional and private life to the full.

One of the issues with NCHD training is the lack of choice about making the sacrifice, years of abuse by the HSE and years of turning over and taking by NCHDs has led to the situation we're in. I would argue there has been more change, in most hospitals, over the last year to working hours than there has been in the decade before.

j.mcdrmd

Paraphrasing the OP

Jentle Grenade wrote: »

Hi all,

1st year reg in a teaching hospital.

Working a 70 hour standard week excluding call time.

The hours are frankly insane.

Last week had to spend a night in ED on a drip.

Signed off for a few days but back to the same situation this week.

Looks like a red flag has been raised here.