Associate feature: Ignoring burnout in the NHS is a risk we can’t afford

Doctors are human too. The fact we need reminded of this speaks volumes about the NHS workforce crisis.

With record waiting lists, resources running short, outdated administrative systems and the prospect of further in-year spending cuts, many healthcare professionals are at breaking point. 
Their wellbeing matters: high-quality care for patients is only possible if healthcare staff receive the practical and emotional support they need. 

The Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland (MDDUS), a defence specialist headquartered in Glasgow since 1902 which helps doctors and dentists with complaints, claims and regulatory investigations, is calling on the UK and Scottish Governments to act on this 
crucial point.

As a mutual, not-for-profit organisation helping 65,000 health professionals across all four countries of the UK, we see our members’ experience on a daily basis. 

In December, our membership survey found that 78% of UK doctors experienced moral distress at work, with 40% considering leaving the medical profession as a direct result. Doctors are emotionally burdened when they can’t provide the care they’ve trained for, not least the level of medicine shortages. One member told us: 

It feels terrible to tell patients who are in pain or agony that we don’t have an operative date for the next 6 months and we have to put temporary measures in place for them. It’s also heartbreaking to know people have been waiting for almost a year to see a specialist, who is also doing his/ her best, and that their condition has deteriorated during the waiting period. I can see the impact this has on the patients who come under my care and I carry that weight with me whenever I go. 

Since 2012, the number of people trying to see their family doctor in Scotland has risen by 300,000. As demand increases, the workload is falling to an ever-smaller number of GPs. The welcome efforts being made to recruit and train new GPs will be wasted if more is not done to retain existing staff. 

The volume and complexity of clinical work, combined with growing demands from both patients and governments, is draining and demands extraordinary stamina. And this isn’t unique to doctors. Despite limited dental contract reforms last year, dentists have begun closing their practices due to underfunding and excessive workloads. Burnout, stress and anxiety are rising, yet the services in place to support professionals remain inadequate. 

This has consequences: as doctors and dentists tire, the risk of errors in professional judgement increases, potentially jeopardising the quality and safety of patient care. And a tired doctor is more likely to communicate poorly with a patient, increasing the risk of an understandable, if unjustified, claim or complaint which further speed ups the merry-go-round of stress.

The Scottish Government has just announced the health budget this year will be cut by £116 million, including £18.8 million from already drastically underfunded mental health services. This follows an in-year cut of £30 million from the mental health budget last December. 

Penny wise but pound foolish, these cuts risk exacerbating existing problems in Scotland’s NHS. When healthcare professionals are challenged to go above and beyond every day, but without the resources to back them up, it’s akin to being asked to deliver the impossible – and that’s a burden no doctor or dentist can bear indefinitely.

Healthcare professionals are the foundation of the NHS. Standing on their side and supporting them during the toughest of times, as MDDUS does, is crucial, not just for their own wellbeing but for the country as a whole. A healthy, fulfilled and motivated workforce means more recruitment, greater retention, better patient care – and better value for money. 

The Scottish Government must work with healthcare professionals on policy delivery rather than cross their fingers and expect more for less. It’s time we treated healthcare professionals as an asset and not simply a resource. Doctors are humans too.

This article is sponsored by MDDUS.

www.mddus.com