‘No doctor should be worked to death’
Doctors hail father of Dr Lauren Connelly, who died after falling asleep at the wheel of her car, for his tireless campaining for safer working hours
Two senior doctors have thrown their support behind a grieving father who is fighting to prevent other doctors from being worked to death.
Dr Lauren Connelly had worked a 100-hour week in a rural hospital, and was gearing up for seven consecutive night shifts, when she died in 2011 on Scotland’s busiest motorway after falling asleep at the wheel.
Ever since her death, Lauren’s father, Brian Connelly, has been campaigning for safer working hours for junior doctors, saying national laws are often “exploited and stretched”.
This week, Welsh ICU consultant Dr Matt Morgan and Canadian critical care specialist Professor Peter Brindley lauded Mr Connelly’s advocacy work and that of other members of the public.
