NHS staff cried in safety interviews, says watchdog

The health safety watchdog has said that doctors, ambulance dispatchers and other NHS staff in England have faced "significant distress" and harm over the past year as a result of long delays in urgent and emergency care.

The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), which monitors safety in the health service in England, said many staff it interviewed for a national investigation "cried or displayed other extreme emotions" when asked about their working environment.

"The bad sides [of my job] give me nightmares, flashbacks and fear, but they can also make me hyperactive, sleepless and sometimes not care about the danger I put myself in," one paramedic told the BBC.

Sarah, not her real name, has worked in the ambulance service for more than a decade, but describes the last 12 months as the most difficult she can remember.

"Over the winter I have witnessed and helped with cardiac arrests in the corridors of hospitals and in the back of ambulances," she said.

"I spent four hours with an end-of-life patient. There was no hospice or district nurse available, so I had to make the choice to give them meds for a peaceful, expected death and prepare the family.

"I felt ashamed that I could not stay till the end, but I had to move on to the next job as I had done all I could."

The HSIB found NHS staff were reporting increased levels of stress, worry and exhaustion because they were not always able to help the sickest patients. HSIB has now urged trusts to do more to protect workers’ mental health, saying there is an “intrinsic link” between patient safety and staff wellbeing.

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Source: BBC News, 27 February 2023