Calls for more mental health support for doctors

A survey says 46% of doctors in the North West are suffering from poor mental health and wellbeing, as health workers fight the Coronavirus pandemic.

Almost half of doctors in the North West report suffering from work-related anxiety, burnout and depression. Meanwhile 32% of doctors in the North West say this has worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The British Medical Association, who put together the survey, is now calling for more support for doctors suffering with poor mental health and wellbeing. That's because one in five doctors feel they do not have access to the help that they need.

The Association says a long-term strategy that protects and maintains the physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing of the workforce must be a top priority for the NHS, lasting beyond this pandemic.

Throughout the crisis, doctors in hospitals and GP practices have been exposed to heightened workplace pressures which were having a detrimental impact on the mental health and wellbeing of staff.

One doctor told BMA: “Staff are extremely worried and distressed, and this has been made worse by the introduction of new rotas that have increasing number of anti-social hours. When does this leave time for rest or any sort of normality?”

During the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, one hospital doctor said: “Yesterday I experienced physical symptoms of anxiety- fast breathing, anxious, feeling of fluttering in my chest. My friend had to calm me down on the phone.”