To the Editor: The aim of the Australian Medical Association’s recent hours audit1 is presumably to encourage hospital administrators to ensure that doctors work safe hours. An unintended consequence is likely to be continued pressure on doctors to underreport their working hours. Too often, it seems that somewhere between the policy and the practice, the focus changes from working hours that comply with safety guidelines to working hours that appear to comply.
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- 1. Australian Medical Association. AMA safe hours audit 2011. http://ama.com.au/ama-safe-hours-audit-2011 (accessed Jul 2012).
- 2. McDougall RJ. Being “one cog in a bigger machine”: a qualitative study investigating ethical challenges perceived by junior doctors. Clin Ethics 2009; 4: 85-90.
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