When the working week is over

摘要

Working for a long period makes people tired. Tired people make mistakes. Mistakes in medicine cost lives. If we limit the hours doctors work, patients will be safer. All of this sounds like common sense and is the argument put forward by those who have supported the 48-hour working limits imposed on the NHS in August. However, scratch beneath the surface and it becomes apparent that patients are actually now considerably less safe and less well cared for than before.