Health workers ‘shattered’, says Jeremy Farrar as more NHS strikes loom
Healthcare workers are “absolutely shattered” and unless something is done to address the crisis in morale, staffing and training then “they won’t be there when you need them”, one of the world’s leading scientists has warned.
Speaking to the Guardian, Prof Jeremy Farrar, the director of Wellcome and soon to be chief scientist of the World Health Organization, warned that healthcare workers would not be ready should another crisis hit.
“This is a global issue, which I think is hugely concerning. It’s certainly true in this country,” he said. “The resilience of healthcare workers, broadly defined from ambulance drivers to nurses to doctors, to care workers in social care, etc. They’re shattered. They are absolutely shattered."
Farrar said: “I think we have to address the morale, staffing, the training, everything from public health physicians to care workers, to doctors and nurses and physios and everybody in between because there’s very little spare capacity in any system globally. It’s particularly true in the UK. As you can see from the strikes, morale and resilience is very thin.”
Source: The Guardian, 20 February 2023