NHS staff sick with burnout

An analysis of NHS sickness figures by The Observer has found that burnout and stress among doctors, nurses, paramedics and other health workers has caused more sickness absence than Covid.

It examined NHS data for the period between March 2020 and September 2022 and found that 15.4 million working days were lost because of stress-related absences.

This compares to 9.8 million days lost as a result of Covid illness or staff being required to self-isolate.

The latest BMA doctors’ union survey of junior doctors in England found that more than three-quarters (78%) felt unwell as a result of work-related stress in the last year. And the vast majority (81%) said their health and wellbeing had worsened, or not improved, since December 2021. This was when Covid-related pressures were pushing NHS staff and services “to breaking point”, the union reported.

Junior doctors are due to begin strike action for better pay with a 72-hour full walk out this month after almost everyone that cast a vote, voted in favour of taking strike action.

A new RCN nurses’ union report, Valuing nursing in the UK — staffing for safe and effective care, reveals that thousands of skilled and experienced nurses are quitting the profession.

In addition to inadequate pay and lack of career progression, the report highlighted insufficient staffing to ensure patient safety, harassment and discrimination and unsafe working conditions.