The Scottish Government was wrong to hide details of an official report into junior doctors’ working hours, according to the Information Commissioner.
The ruling follows a campaign by the father of a junior doctor who died because of long hours as a hospital doctor.
Brian Connelly’s daughter Lauren, 23, died after crashing while driving home, exhausted after her shift at Inverclyde Royal Hospital.
Connelly, of East Kilbride, said Lauren started her job with a roster of 90 hours over just 10 days. He lobbied the Scottish Government to introduce a 48-hour working week for junior doctors and it set up a working party group to investigate.
The Scottish Government then withheld the final report, eventually releasing a version, with 29 pieces of information hidden in the 21-page report– with the government claiming the information was not in the public interest. Connelly said: “It is in everyone’s interest – the long, exhausting working hours of junior doctors, not only from doctors’ safety but that of their patients.”
Campaigner condemns rotas of over 90 hours a week handed out to junior doctors in Scots hospitals
He asked the Information Commissioner to make a ruling on whether the Scottish Government had valid reasons to redact the report. The Scottish Government then released the report ahead of the decision.
Connelly said: “The Information Commissioner ruled that the Scottish Government were wrong to withhold publication saying that the Scottish Ministers failed to comply with part one of the Freedom of Information Act in failing to respond to the information request. The Information Commissioner’s decision is a small victory and I feel vindicated for arguing that the report should have been published.
“The Scottish Government says it is committed to implementing the 48-hour working week without averaging for junior doctors and have promised to update me on progress.”
The Scottish Government said: “The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care met with Mr Connelly on November 8 2022 to reaffirm the commitment to implementing the report’s recommendations and discuss progress that has been made so far. This includes guidance to NHS Boards to limit consecutive days of long shifts and provide ongoing wellbeing support available through the National Wellbeing Hub.”
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