The prevalence of burnout and exhaustion experienced by trainee doctors is causing high fail rates and potentially breaches the governing enterprise agreement, Shadow Health spokeswoman Giulia Jones said today.

The 2020 report, ACT Health BPT Training Program Review, revealed that 79% of junior doctors are suffering burnout and 68% are experiencing emotional exhaustion.

As a result, just 37% of trainees passed their exams, compared to a national average of 70%.

“The ACT Government has a duty of care in preventing burnout and fatigue among its hospital workforce,” Mrs Jones said.

“Burnout and emotional exhaustion are rampant in our hospital. For our trainee doctors, it is making it near impossible to study for and pass their exams.

“For a government that has been in power for almost 20 years, this simply isn’t good enough.

“The government must adhere to the enterprise agreement and better manage the fatigue of its hospital workforce,” Mrs Jones concluded.