{"id":48172,"date":"2020-07-31T08:27:54","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T07:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=48172"},"modified":"2020-08-10T17:46:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-10T16:46:00","slug":"sarah-marie-farrell-nhs-doctors-low-morale-and-burnout-is-a-crisis-waiting-to-happen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/07\/31\/sarah-marie-farrell-nhs-doctors-low-morale-and-burnout-is-a-crisis-waiting-to-happen\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarah Marie Farrell: NHS doctors\u2019 low morale and burnout is a crisis waiting to happen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Medical unhappiness is rife in the UK, writes <\/span><b>Sarah Marie Farrell<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, but it doesn\u2019t have to be this way<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like almost all doctors I know, I am proud to be in a caring profession and to work\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">for the NHS, a healthcare system based on need and free at the point of delivery. But\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">to be a doctor in the UK today is relentless and under-rewarded: it seems to require nothing short of pure altruism.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I am paid three to five times less than many of my university peers. But I work longer hours and carry a higher emotional toll. I take my breaks in a grotty office, amid strewn blankets, the makeshift beds of colleagues\u2019 night shifts. I eat trying to ignore smells of rancid food and body odour.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On shift, we do not have the luxury of camaraderie, there isn\u2019t time. We barely know who\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">we are working with. It is frustrating to have lost opportunities for spontaneous <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">teaching moments, on now mythical quiet nights.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many questions arise. Why am I still using a fax machine? Why is there never any paper in it? Why is the paper cupboard locked, and who has the keys?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Doctors are required to hone decision making skills to optimise care and facilitate patient autonomy. The irony is that doctors are required to relinquish decision making capacity in their personal lives. The system decides when my holiday is appropriate, when study is allowed, even where I end up living within the parameters of the entire UK.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There is a constant delay to \u201cadulting,\u201d such a buying a house, getting married, and\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">having children. I have even heard, \u201cIf you are not divorced by the time you take your\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">fellowship exam, you probably didn\u2019t work hard enough.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Dissatisfaction is rife<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It isn\u2019t just me. Dissatisfaction among doctors is generally high. Frighteningly, many doctors are considering leaving the NHS. A national survey found nearly half (47%) of doctors working in English hospitals considering leaving their organisation, and one in five are considering leaving the NHS altogether, with a similar pattern in Wales and Northern Ireland. [2-4]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Primary care is also facing a \u201cworkforce crisis,\u201d with 37% of 2248 GPs surveyed in southwest England saying they were highly likely to quit, 36% to take a career break, and 57% to reduce hours within five years. [5]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Burnout and low morale are common concerns. A quarter of doctors struggle with their workload, a 2018 General Medical Council survey found. [6] The World Health Organization defines burnout as an occupational health problem resulting from chronic poorly managed workplace stress, with three characteristics\u2014&#8221;energy depletion&#8221;, &#8220;feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one\u2019s job,&#8221; and &#8220;reduced professional efficacy.&#8221; [7-8]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Doctors\u2019 morale is at an all time low. A BMA survey published in October 2019 reported that 41% of 729 respondents described their morale as low or very low, an increase on previous surveys. Nine in 10 doctors feel that the NHS is in year round crisis. [3]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Doctors at every career stage are on average working longer than their contracted hours. The BMA\u2019s survey found that GPs are worst affected, with 79% working overtime often or very often. [3] Discontentment also results from a lack of agency in local planning, with 84% of doctors having no involvement in planning how their local healthcare systems support the government\u2019s long term plan.[9].\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some doctors report feeling hampered by government imposed targets\u2014the most obvious being the A&amp;E 4 hour target;\u00a0 only 1% of doctors think this is &#8220;useful,&#8221; and 31% believe it has a &#8220;negative impact.&#8221; [9] GPs particularly say they fear litigation and feel blamed for failings in the system. [10] There are many other reasons that doctors feel devalued, underpaid and overworked.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Data suggest a better work-life balance for doctors who venture abroad. For example, in a survey of 282 UK-trained doctors working in New Zealand, mean job satisfaction stood at 8.1\/10 compared with 7.1 in the UK. [11] Doctors in New Zealand scored 7.8\/10 for free time for leisure, compared with 5.7 for the NHS doctors. Australian working environments have also been perceived as friendlier, and the lifestyle better there, by doctors wishing to leave the UK. [12]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For doctors who wish to stay in the UK, the promise of autonomy in the private healthcare sector is tantalising. We hear rumours of free breakfasts and respect. And private sector work can be lucrative, with benefits of which NHS workers can only dream.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Where do we go from here?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There\u2019s a tough road ahead for the NHS, with an ageing population, high public expectations, and rising numbers of tests and treatments available, increasing the burden on already crumbling infrastructure. Unless things change to reverse doctors\u2019 unhappiness, the NHS could see a medical exodus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">To make the NHS more appealing to doctors, conditions must improve. \u201cResilience\u201d is not a panacea for burnout. More demand from patients can be met only with more doctors and more efficiency. Both require substantial investment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The GMC recently made hopeful overtures promoting wellbeing for healthcare workers. Its report &#8220;Caring for doctors, Caring for patients&#8221; discusses doctors\u2019 poor wellbeing. Highlighting the importance of autonomy, belonging, and competence&#8211;its authors suggest six urgent steps, including the cultivation of compassionate and inclusive leadership. [13]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Two other changes are urgently needed. Trainees\u2019 time must be ringfenced as required by the national training programme. Currently, many shifts comprise pure service provision without time for operative hours, auditing, and teaching.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The NHS needs also fully to embrace less than full time working for doctors. Many doctors who might otherwise leave the workforce would be happy to contribute in roles with greater work-life balance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The feeling that doctors are being forced into an abusive relationship with the NHS seems to be growing. But doctors\u2019 wellbeing is no less important than patients&#8217;, and the NHS should reflect compassion for all, including its workers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is an edited version of an essay that won a competition run by Doctors for the NHS and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The BMJ<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> with the title \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Where have all the doctors gone and why?<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Sarah Marie Farrell<\/strong>, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Core Surgical Trainee, London<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Provenance and peer review<\/strong>: Commissioned; not externally peer reviewed.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Competing interests<\/strong>: None declared.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>References:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The UK Foundation Programme Office. F2 Career Destinations Report 2018. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/F2-Career-Destinations-Report_FINAL-2018.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/F2-Career-Destinations-Report_FINAL-2018.pdf<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">NHS England. National NHS Staff Survey 2018. Data accessed 30 October 2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">British Medical association. Survey report found at: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bma.org.uk\/collective-voice\/policy-and-research\/education-training-and-workforce\/quarterly-survey\/quarterly-survey-results\/quarterly-survey-q2-2019\">https:\/\/www.bma.org.uk\/collective-voice\/policy-and-research\/education-training-and-workforce\/quarterly-survey\/quarterly-survey-results\/quarterly-survey-q2-2019 <\/a><\/span>British Medical Association Quarterly Survey (October 2019). Last accessed February 2020<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">NHS Wales. NHS Wales Staff Survey 2018: National report [Internet]. 2018. Available from: http:\/\/www.wales.nhs.uk\/sitesplus\/documents\/866\/4.3b%20 National%20Staff%20Survey%20Report.pdf. Additional analysis conducted on data provided by NHS Wales.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Campbell JL, Fletcher E, Abel G, Anderson R, Chilvers R, Dean SG, et al. Policies and strategies to retain and support the return of experiences GPs in direct patient care: the ReGroup mixed-methods study, NIHR Journals Library. 2019.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">General Medical Council. National Training Surveys 2019. Data accessed 30 October 2019.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">World Health OrganisationPrimary Prevention of Mental, Neurological and Psychosocial Disorders, 1998 p. 91-110<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">World Health Organisation. International Classification of Diseases (11the Revision). 2018.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">British Medical Association. Survey report found at: <\/span><a style=\"background-color: #ffffff;font-size: 1rem\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bma.org.uk\/collective-voice\/policy-and-research\/education-training-and-workforce\/quarterly-survey\/quarterly-survey-results\/quarterly-survey-q1-2019\"><span>https:\/\/www.bma.org.uk\/collective-voice\/policy-and-research\/education-training-and-workforce\/quarterly-survey\/quarterly-survey-results\/quarterly-survey-q1-2019<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (May 2019). Last accessed February 2020.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sansom E, Terry R, Fletcher E, Salisbury C, Long L, Richards S.H. et al.\u00a0 Why do GPs leave direct patient care and what might help to retain them? A qualitative study of GPs in South West England: BMJ Open, 2018, v. 8, p. e 019849<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sharma A, Lambert TW, Goldacre MJ. (2012).\u00a0 Why UK-trained doctors leave the UK: cross-sectional survey of doctors in New Zealand: J R Soc Med, v. 105, p. 25-34.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Smith SE, Tallentire VR, Pope LM, Laidlaw AH, Morrison J. Foundation Year 2 doctors\u2019 reasons for leaving UK medicine: an in-depth analysis of decision making using semi-structured interviews: BMJ Open, 2018 v.8, p. E019456.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">West M, Coia D. Caring for Doctors, Caring for Patients: How to transform UK healthcare environments to support doctors and medical students to care for patients. 2019. https:\/\/www.gmc-uk.org\/-\/media\/documents\/caring-for-doctors-caring-for-patients_pdf-80706341.pdf<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Medical unhappiness is rife in the UK, writes Sarah Marie Farrell, but it doesn\u2019t have to be this way Like almost all doctors I know, I am proud to be [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/07\/31\/sarah-marie-farrell-nhs-doctors-low-morale-and-burnout-is-a-crisis-waiting-to-happen\/\">More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18907],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellbeing"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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