There is no one size fit all

Should we go back to the on-call system? The modified on-call system with pm off? With am off? 75-hours shift? 65-hours shift? 3 shifts per day ala Accident and Emergency? There are so many variations but at the end of the day there is no one-size-fit-all. Each hospital in the country has different staffing, facilities, training, equipment and circumstances. We have to make the best that we could with what we have and not what we hope or wish for. However there is one thing I am confident about that the best person to make such decisions is not some administrator sequestered in an air-conditioned office but the people on the ground reacting to changing situations by the minute. I believe that the best person is the people on the ground as represented by the head of department. Each department will have its own staffing needs in even the same hospital. I believe the Honourable Minister of Health and the Director-General should give the Heads of Departments the discretion to decide which system will be best suited for their department currently with the available resources. They should trust the Heads of Departments being the leaders in the field to be able to make the wisest and best decisions.