Top Medical Body Suggests Not More Than 74 Hours Work Week For Medics, Weekly Off Days

It emphasised that medical colleges should have active anti-ragging cells with strict penalties for offenders to mitigate the stress induced by ragging.

Excessive duty hours pose risks to the physical and mental health of medics and also compromise patient safety, an NMC taskforce said while recommending that resident doctors work no more than 74 hours a week and get a day off every week.

Ensuring seven to eight hours of sleep daily for medical students is crucial for their mental and physical health and requests for leave should be judiciously considered and not unreasonably declined, the National Task Force on Mental Health and Wellbeing of Medical Students said in its report.

Collaborative planning of duty hours by heads of departments, faculty, senior residents and residents needs to be done and, if there is an increased clinical workload, the hospital or medical college should hire more senior residents and medical officers, it said.