"医師の「働き方改革」は“改悪”？　長時間労働「医療過誤の原因に関係」8割以上が回答…日本医労連ら厚労省に改善要請," 27 October 2024

“Unofficial Japanese-to-English translation by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre”

... four representatives from The Japan Federation of Medical Workers' Unions and the dr-union visited the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo, and submitted a petition to the minister, Takemi Keizo, calling for the real implementation of the reform of the work system, claiming that the "Work System Reform" that the government has been implementing for doctors since April this year is a "deterioration" that runs counter to reform. This includes allowing overtime work up to 1,860 hours per year. Afterwards, they held a press conference in Tokyo and called for the need for drastic reform, such as increasing the number of doctors...

In cases where overtime and holiday working hours are unavoidably exceeded the upper limit of 960 hours per year, prefectures have been given the opportunity to extend the limit to 1,860 hours per year depending on the medical care system in that area. The media has reported that "24% of working doctors are being forced to work overtime" ...

The reasons cited for the forced long working hours include the excessive issuance of "night and day shift work" permits by the Labor Standards Inspection Office, which are not considered working hours, and the widespread broad interpretation of self-improvement...