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Abstract
Extended working hours (working >16 hours continuously) of intern doctors is commonplace globally and has continued to persist in clinical practice since the advent of modern medicine. The reasons for this persistence are innumerous, but principally include the shortage of medical intern doctors and the desire for continuity of care. However, these extended working hours are accompanied by their own set of repercussions.
Research on this topic – a comparison of actual versus rostered overtime hours of intern doctors at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH), South Africa – has explored this particular aspect of South African public health care. Data on intern doctor working hours in this setting was collected and analysed, followed by a critical evaluation of their functionality and legality.
The principal findings of this study confirm that the number of actual overtime hours worked is greater than the number of rostered overtime hours for intern doctors at CMJAH. This study is in keeping with previous studies, both nationally and internationally, in intern doctors at CMJAH were shown to have worked in excess of the maximum total overtime per month permitted by the HPCSA. In addition, intern doctor working conditions were analysed and deemed not to meet objectively reasonable workplace standards in several different domains.
This research study now serves as another article of literature that will contribute to further research into the regulation of intern doctor working hours in South Africa.
Further studies in this regard are necessary to substantiate the need for adjustment to intern doctor working hours nationally.
References
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Copyright (c) 2025 K Ramthol, N Erasmus, J Lightfoot , S Madikane , M Persadh, O Zikhali