No more abuse of residents on night and holiday duty?

The Regional Medical Council of Szczecin has received a response from the Department of Medical Staff Development of the Ministry of Health regarding the obligation of doctors undergoing specialty training to work within the framework of night and holiday medical assistance conducted by the specialty training provider.

Hospitals cannot force residents to work in night and Christmas care. Ministry of Health responds to the District Medical Chamber

- The District Medical Council has asked the Health Ministry for clarification on the engagement of doctors in the course of specialization in the residency mode to work in Night and Christmas Medical Care. The answer about hospitals not being able to oblige doctors to do so is in line with the legal analyses we reviewed earlier. Thus, the opinion of the Ministry of Health can provide an answer to the doubts that very often arise in the relationship between the resident doctor and hospital management," says Michal Bulsa, president of the Regional Medical Council in Szczecin.

"The Department of Medical Personnel Development has informed the Regional Chamber of Medicine in Szczecin that a doctor undergoing specialty training completes it in accordance with the training program in a particular field of medicine. In the current specialty training programs, there is no requirement for work and compulsory on-call duty in the framework of night and holiday medical care. In the opinion of the Department of Medical Personnel Development, an entity cannot oblige a doctor undergoing specialty training to work beyond the work of the specialty training without the doctor's consent, and therefore the provision in the specialty training contract obliging the doctor to work within the framework of night and holiday medical care should not take place," this is the position on the issue received by the Regional Medical Council in Szczecin in response to a question from President Michał Bulsa regarding the engagement of doctors undergoing residency to work within the framework of night and holiday medical care.

- It should also be noted that directing a doctor to night and holiday medical care as part of a full-time position dedicated to specialty training that does not have night and holiday medical care work in the training program will lead to not completing all elements of training during the specialty training contract and extending specialty training beyond residency, the Health Ministry's position reads.

- Taking into account that the areas of specialty training indicated by the President as part of their programs do not provide for either mandatory or permissible on-call duties in night and holiday medical care, it should be assumed that their implementation in this organizational unit of the medical entity is possible only within the framework of the so-called opt-out clause after obtaining the consent of the doctor in specialty training," we read.

According to President Michal Bulsa, the Health Ministry's position coincides with the expectations of doctors. We are legally ready to provide advice to resident doctors, who are often forced, as it were, to perform on-call duties in Night and Christmas Health Care.

Source: Regional Chamber of Physicians in Szczecin