As a hospital specialist I am often saddled with the additional supervision of junior doctors to make up for sick colleagues. It’s exhausting and dispiriting to keep being asked to make up for absentees when my work is already highly demanding.

Hospital management hasn’t acted on the epidemic of low staff morale that fuels the absenteeism. The public hospital system is stretched to beyond breaking point. My personal wellbeing is now precarious and I feel that the team player in me is being taken advantage of. There is threadbare staffing as it is on a good day and I am not hopeful of a fix. Any thoughts?

Absenteeism, especially in public health roles, can result in........

© The Sydney Morning Herald