gcw In my day we did Mon-Thurs 9-5 (really 0830-1800ish) and starting that Friday night I’d do 2100-Midday. I was lucky, It was a lewisham and I lived right near by.
When I started as a junior anaesthetist it was 7×13 hours shifts (4 days / 3 nights) 4 days off and then another 91 hour week.
It was fucking brutal but it meant that i worked in a team, i knew the people I worked with and in the weeks when i was not doing that (the nights were 1 week in 7) I knew i had time off.
Nowadays with all the restrictions, people only do 2-3 long shifts at a time. Teams are constantly changing, you spend more time handing over than catching up than doing actual work. There is no team structure, people are commuting miles and driving super tired.
It is a far less enjoyable experience.
I still do night shifts when the juniors cannot. (strikes or the like). They are pretty harsh. And I do not have the overhead of needing to ask for permission or help.
