AIIMS work-hour cap impossible sans manpower: Docs

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has issued a memorandum restricting the continuous active duty of resident doctors to a maximum of 12 hours a day and 48 hours a week. The order, approved by the institute’s competent authority, seeks to bring working conditions in line with the Centre’s residency scheme.

The circular states that residents should not normally work beyond 12 hours of active duty a day, with at least one weekly day off, while junior residents should be limited to 48 hours of duty in a week. On-call duty, however, may extend up to 12 hours at a stretch.

Although the directive marks a progressive step on paper, doctors say the reality is altogether different. A senior resident at AIIMS, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “Postgraduate residents often end up working continuously for 36 hours without sleep. For instance, if you are a first-year surgery resident on emergency duty, your day begins at 9 am and continues straight through until 9 am the following day.”

Dr Sai Kaustubh, president, Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) at AIIMS, said the directive is difficult to implement without addressing the shortage of doctors in critical departments.

“There simply aren’t enough residents. This order is impossible to adhere to, especially in critical-care departments like medicine and surgery. Passing such orders without increasing manpower is no solution,” Kaustubh remarked. He added that this was the third time in six years that the same directive had been issued, but little had changed on the ground.

Dr Piyush Bharti, General Secretary of the National Federation of Resident Doctors of AIIMS, said, “This may help safeguard the mental health and well-being of residents. We urge AIIMS to adopt these reforms to enhance productivity and welfare.”

According to Dr Indra Shekhar, a resident in medicine at AIIMS, the 12-hour limit is only a cap, not a guarantee. “Some days may be eight, 10 or 12 hours. But on-call days often stretch to 24 or even 36 hours. In some state medical colleges, residents can end up working 72 hours at a stretch. Days off are virtually non-existent—you must apply for leave, which is deducted from your annual quota of 30 days,” he explained.

Despite repeated representations by doctors’ bodies, change has been slow. Earlier this year, a committee under the Directorate General of Health Services was tasked with revising the Central Residency Scheme of 1992. “No concrete outcome has emerged yet,” Dr Shekhar said.