The checks, which were carried out by the Social Law Supervision Service, in collaboration with the Computer Crime Unit of the Federal Police, concern more specifically the correct application of the law of 12 December 2010 determining the working hours of doctors, The labor auditors say dentists, veterinarians, trainee doctors in training, trainee dentists and student trainees who are preparing to practice these professions. A similar check in a large hospital last year revealed many irregularities.
“The hospitals audited today were not singled out because we would have certain information about them,” the labor auditors note. “No conclusion can be drawn from whether or not any hospital was checked today or not. Other control actions are also not excluded.”
Once the checks have been completed and the necessary data has been collected, the labor auditors will review the follow-up they have made to the findings, it says.
In recent years, stories have regularly surfaced about abuses among trainee doctors. A survey conducted in 2019 among recently graduated UCL students showed that they had to work 48 to 60 hours a week, some even more than 60 hours. There were also stand-by shifts of more than 24 hours at a time. There is a fear that these working conditions do not allow to guarantee safe and high-quality patient care. (BELGA)
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