1 in 4 Junior Doctors So Tired They Fall Asleep At The Wheel After A Night Shift

A poll of more than 1,100 junior doctors for the BBC Inside Out South programme found 41% had nodded off on their way home

More than four in 10 junior doctors have fallen asleep at the wheel after driving home from a night shift, research shows.

A poll of more than 1,100 junior doctors for the BBC Inside Out South programme found 41% had nodded off on their way home.

One junior doctor from Oxford, Sam Jayaweera, who often works four night shifts in intensive care in a row, of 13 hours each, told the programme: "About five minutes away from home I was on one of the country roads and found myself on the opposite side of the road - I mean thank goodness there was nothing coming the other way.

"In fact, only just last year I was going to a night shift and I came across a car that (had) flipped in the road, it was an unlit country road and... it was another junior doctor coming back from their late shift."

The programme also detailed how Brian Connelly's daughter, Lauren, was driving home after her first ever night shift as a newly-qualified doctor when she died.





The programme reveals how exhausted junior doctors are
He said: "When she came off the night shift she phoned home and said 'I'm leaving', she had a chat with her mum and explained that the night shift had gone well.

"She was a bit concerned as it was a new experience of her being in charge and she was feeling quite pleased with herself. But nevertheless on the journey back home, that period that she fell asleep..."

When Miss Connelly did not arrive home, Mr Connelly and his wife, went out in their car to look for her.

"Because we were expecting her home. And we set off to find her. And while we were driving, we could see the accident on the other side of the road..."

Mr Connelly's campaign has cut the number of night shifts that can be worked in a row in Scotland from seven to five.




One junior doctor died on her way home after falling asleep
In another case, Dr Ronak Patel, 33, a junior doctor from Gosport was heading home to his pregnant wife.

He was driving home after doing three night shifts when his car collided with a lorry.

He died in a head-on collision and, according to evidence heard at an inquest in Bury St Edmunds, had probably fallen asleep.

Dr Michael Farquhar, who teaches junior doctors about rest, said: "The teaching that we do is all about making sure we encourage our junior doctors, our nursing colleagues, everybody who's working at night that it is not a sign of weakness at all to take rests and breaks when we're working.

"There is very much a hero attitude in medicine and nursing that our own needs come second to the needs of the patient."

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