- Hezbollah chief admits 'unprecedented' blow in device blasts
- Sales of US existing homes slip slightly in August
- Fear, panic haunt Lebanese after devices explode
- Labuschagne sparks Australia fightback in England ODI opener
- S.Africa's HIV research power couple says fight goes on
- Why is Israel focusing on border with Lebanon?
- Mpox vaccines administered in Rwanda, first in Africa
- US Fed rate cut is 'very positive sign' for economy: Yellen
- Unknown Mozart string trio discovered in Germany
- 'Are we five-year-olds?' F1 drivers won't mind their language
- Brazil judge orders X to reimpose block or face hefty fine
- Munich to rename stadium street after Beckenbauer
- Champions Italy to face Argentina in Davis Cup Final 8
- The winding, fitful path to weight loss drug Ozempic
- Italians defeat American Magic to reach Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Norris has 'nothing to lose' as he hunts Verstappen in Singapore
- Kyiv 'outraged' at Swiss showing of Russian war film
- French city renames Abbe Pierre square after abuse claims
- Footballer charged after huge cannabis seizure at UK airport
- Vatican recognises Medjugorje shrine, but not Virgin's messages
- Israel bombs Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon after wave of deadly blasts
- Bank of England freezes rate after jumbo US cut
- Playing Nadal is 'kind of a nightmare', says Alcaraz
- Portugal tackles last of deadly northern forest fires
- Ton-up Ashwin lifts India to 339-6 against Bangladesh
- Departing NATO chief warns US against 'isolationism'
- Coming winter 'sternest test yet' for Ukraine energy grid
- Evacuations as tail of Storm Boris floods northeast Italy
- Lebanon's Hezbollah reeling after second wave of deadly blasts
- Taiwan recognises same-sex marriages between Chinese, Taiwanese
- Stock markets rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Gabon's ousted leader Bongo says renouncing politics for good
- Lebanon device blasts: what we know about deadly attacks
- Equity markets rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Late Harrods owner Al-Fayed accused of rape: BBC
- Hong Kong man sentenced 14 months for wearing 'seditious' T-shirt
- Lebanon's Hezbollah in disarray after second wave of deadly blasts
- Equity markets, yen rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Meta and Spotify blast EU decisions on AI
- Hasan takes three as Bangladesh rattle India in first Test
- Two killed during police operation in New Caledonia
- Flood-hit region leaders to meet in Poland to discuss EU aid
- Sri Lanka to vote in first poll since economic collapse
- Hong Kong probe finds Cathay Airbus defect could cause 'extensive' damage
- AI development cannot be left to market whim, UN experts warn
- All Blacks primed for 'hell' of a Wallabies clash
- Japan firm says no longer makes radio reportedly used in Lebanon blasts
- Zoom fatigue? Try some nature in your background: study
- Boeing to start large-scale furloughs with Seattle strike talks stalled
- Japan walkie-talkie maker says investigating after Lebanon blasts
CMSC | -0.18% | 25.01 | $ | |
BCC | 3.98% | 142.745 | $ | |
AZN | 0.58% | 79.035 | $ | |
SCS | -7.3% | 13.15 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.08% | 25 | $ | |
BP | 2.25% | 33.175 | $ | |
BTI | -0.53% | 37.68 | $ | |
NGG | -2.08% | 68.625 | $ | |
GSK | -1.05% | 41.99 | $ | |
RYCEF | 5.48% | 6.93 | $ | |
JRI | -0.45% | 13.38 | $ | |
BCE | -0.44% | 35.455 | $ | |
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
VOD | -1.78% | 10.051 | $ | |
RIO | 3.84% | 65.425 | $ | |
RELX | 1.25% | 47.97 | $ |
From nightmares to PTSD: Covid stokes UK health care staff crisis
Long shifts working in intensive care and the risk of catching Covid and passing it on to his wife and children left Joan Pons Laplana exhausted.
"By the end of the second wave I was all over the place. I had nightmares, panic attacks. I started having suicidal thoughts, mood swings," he told AFP.
"My personal life was falling apart."
Laplana, a 46-year-old Catalan who lives in Chesterfield, northern England, had suffered burnout even before the global health crisis hit.
But the intense work pressure saw him diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and forced him to quit as a nurse to protect his mental health -- joining tens of thousands of health workers who have resigned during the pandemic.
"I saw a patient my age with a daughter my daughter's age," he said, recalling how the girl said goodbye over an electronic tablet moments before her father passed away.
"I started having nightmare seeing the eyes of the dad."
Laplana is not alone.
In 2020, as Europe battled soaring cases of Covid, alarm bells were already being sounded about the emotional and psychological impact of the pandemic on frontline medics.
In Britain, the relentless pressure has led to an exodus of staff: some 33,000 workers quit the state-run National Health Service (NHS) in the third quarter last year.
That was almost double compared with the final quarter of 2019, just before coronavirus arrived in Britain.
According to official statistics, nearly 7,000 of those who resigned in the third quarter of 2021 said they wanted a better work-life balance.
- Long shifts -
Akshay Akulwar has not yet resigned but has thought about relocating abroad -- to New Zealand or Australia where salaries are higher -- or to his home country India.
The surgeon, who works in eastern England and is a spokesman at the Doctors' Association UK, said the long hours affect well-being, personal and family life.
The pandemic has seen him on call, work night shifts and do more hours than ever before, he said.
"Slowly and gradually you feel burnout, you start to work less effectively. You cannot go on at this elevated level of activity for so long, " he said.
Public sector union Unison said more than two-thirds of medical staff have suffered burnout during the pandemic, and more than half worked beyond their contractual hours.
As a result, more than half of the sector's employees are looking for a new job, deepening recruitment problems caused by retirement, Brexit and new immigration rules.
Unison's head of health, Sara Gorton, said staff had been "wrung dry by pandemic pressures" as they cover for sick colleagues and feel guilty about not providing quality care.
"The NHS was already more than 100,000 staff short before coronavirus. The pandemic has upped the strain on health employees, and many have had enough," she added.
Staff shortages caused by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus saw soldiers drafted in to help in British hospitals and ambulance services.
Bill Palmer, from the Nuffield Trust health sector think-tank, said NHS staff felt a "professional obligation" to stay on after the first year of the pandemic.
Between 2016 and the start of the outbreak, there had been a growing trend towards staff quitting their posts. Now after a pause, resignations are rising again, he added.
- 'Like a number' -
How to plug the gaps of staff departures in the NHS is a pressing problem for the government, with the pandemic having caused a huge backlog in treatment and surgeries.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council has said that last year there were some 8,000 fewer nurses from European Economic Area nations than in 2016.
More than half of EU nurses leaving Britain cited the country's departure from the bloc as a reason for their decision.
Getting medical and social care staff from further afield is also problematic, with tighter post-Brexit immigration rules also proving a block on recruitment.
Higher salaries in other sectors are proving a draw for lower-paid, non-medical NHS staff.
Alex, who declined to give his full name, said he quit his job as a community mental health nurse in northwest England because he felt "treated like a number and not like an individual".
His workload increased by 25 percent but the additional responsibilities did not see his pay increase, affecting his own mental health.
He now works for with victims of modern slavery and domestic violence.
"I have similar pay but less stress, less workload," he said. "I feel supported."
K.Brown--BTB