Doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff suffering burnout should be shown compassion and not blamed for being unwell, according to a leading GP. Clare Gerada says employers often treat physicians as 'naughty schoolchildren' when they go sick or suffer mental health problems. Professor Dame Gerada, past president of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), is calling for more comprehensive guidance that focuses on 'kindness' and 'sensitivity'.
The doctor, who helped found mental health charity, Doctors in Distress, addresses the need for major reform in a new book aimed at reforming care for doctors and nurses with mental illness. The Handbook of Physician Mental Health, publishing next week, highlights how suicide rates for doctors are up to four times those of other professional groups. GPs, psychiatrists and doctors trained overseas are among the healthcare workers who are especially at risk.
So are female clinicians who face the burden of a 'second shift' – caring for patients during the day and their families at night. A global workforce crisis fuelled by increased workload and bullying and racism are among numerous factors identified in the book for clinicians developing depression, anxiety and other mental health problems. Another key risk factor is what Professor Gerada describes 'the industrialization of care' where too much focus is placed on meeting strict targets at the expense of providing personalized healthcare for patients.
The Handbook of Physic.