Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I ask the witnesses to address Senator Burke's comments regarding the working conditions, particularly the length of the working day for NCHDs. I have had the parents of junior doctors come to my office to voice serious concerns about the impact of the working conditions on the physical and mental health of their offspring. The doctors themselves are afraid they will make mistakes because of tiredness. In one case, a woman in Cork came to me whose son was working as a junior doctor in a hospital, which I will not name. Such was her concern that she sent him to Dublin to see if he was okay. He had worked six 12-hour shifts in a row. We have had the IMO before this committee, as well as Dr. Mark Murphy, who spoke on behalf of the NCHDs, voicing serious concerns in this regard. These concerns are legitimate because, as Deputy Ó Caoláin said, we put our trust in these people but their competence must be compromised if they are working for 12 hours with no rest. In that context, is our system safe and fit for purpose?