A serious picture has emerged in the Review Medical System (RMS) 2.0 survey conducted by the Federation of All India Medical Associations (FEMA) on the working conditions and mental health of resident doctors. The survey conducted on 1,260 resident doctors from 28 states and union territories revealed widespread problems like long duty hours, staff shortage, mental stress, lack of sleep and burnout.
The report highlights the urgent need for humane working conditions, mental health support and policy reforms for doctors. FEMA had earlier reported on several serious issues related to medical education and health training through the RMS 1.0 survey. It highlighted irregular duty hours, poor infrastructure, shortage of faculty, lack of mental health support, increasing academic pressure.
The report highlighted the need to implement the recommendations of the National Task Force (NTF). Based on these findings, FEMA launched the RMS 2.0 survey, which specifically examined resident physicians’ duties, workload, burnout, sleep deprivation, bond policy, stipends, and institutional support.
1,260 doctors participated in the survey. These included resident doctors of 1,087 government medical colleges, 99 central government institutions, 56 private medical colleges and 18 corporate hospitals. Junior residents, senior residents, non-academic residents and interns were included in the survey. The participants were from various departments including Surgery, Medicine, Orthopaedics, Gynecology and Obstetrics, Pediatrics, Anesthesia, Radiology, Emergency Medicine.
According to the report, 61.8 percent doctors said that they have worked continuously for more than 36 hours. At the same time, 63.7% doctors do not get mandatory rest even after 24 hours of duty. In the survey, 46.7% doctors said that they work more than 80 hours a week.
65 percent said lack of staff
The survey revealed that 87.5 percent of doctors often or sometimes feel burnout. These doctors told that due to duty they do not get enough sleep. 54.4 percent of doctors said they even considered leaving residency due to stress and overwork. 16.9 percent doctors admitted that due to work stress they have thoughts of harming themselves. According to the report, 65.7 percent doctors reported shortage of staff in their department. The survey also revealed dissatisfaction regarding bond policy and stipend.