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Showing results for tags 'Fatigue / exhaustion'.
Found 339 results
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Content ArticleOn paper, a GP’s working schedule can look quite inviting: consulting for three and a half hours in the morning, with a coffee break in the middle, then a gap for lunch and home visits before a similar length afternoon surgery. However, this is rarely the reality for NHS GPs. In this BMJ opinion piece, GP Helen Salisbury talks about what working life is really like for GPs and highlights the mismatch between their scheduled hours and tasks and the reality, which often involves them doing much more. She highlights how the unrealistic demands GPs face have been exacerbated by a movement of work from secondary to primary care, and argues that this is contributing to the workforce crisis that general practice faces.
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Content ArticleThe Bucharest Declaration is the outcome of a World Health Organization (WHO) high-level regional meeting on health and care workforce in Europe that took place in Bucharest 22-23 March 2023. It makes 11 statements relating to the workforce crisis facing countries across Europe about retention, recruitment and staff safety.
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News ArticleICBs should ensure there are ‘formal escalation routes’ in place for GPs after 25 daily clinical contacts, the BMA has said in new guidance. From next week (15 May), GP practices are contractually required to offer an ‘appropriate response’ to patients the first time they get in contact, by offering them an appointment or redirection, rather than asking them to call back at a different time. While GP leaders warned this would lead to increased pressure on NHS 111 and A&E, NHS England attempted to clarify in this week’s recovery plan that GPs should only redirect patients in ‘exceptional circumstances’. It also said practices should inform their ICB on each such occasion. However, conflicting BMA guidance has now been published, warning that practices attempting to adhere to the new requirement ‘may do so at the expense of clinician wellbeing and patient safety’. It reiterates the GP Committee for England’s safe working guidance recommending that clinicians have no more than 25 clinical contacts per day because anything beyond this "can lead to decision fatigue, clinical errors and patient harm, and clinician burn out". Read full story Source: Pulse, 11 May 2023
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Content ArticleHealth and care workers in all parts of Europe are experiencing overwork, with high levels of burnout. This opinion piece in the BMJ looks at the issue of healthcare professionals leaving European health systems to take early retirement or work in other countries where pay and conditions are better. It highlights the causes of this exodus, including increasing patient complexity, salary erosion and work-life balance. It argues that policies should prioritise retaining existing staff, as increased training numbers offer only a partial, long term answer.to the crisis, highlighting potential approaches governments can take to retain highly qualified healthcare staff.
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Content Article
Breaks from operational duty are an important factor in the management of fatigue. But as highly committed and professional operational staff often perform several secondary tasks and activities—inside or outside the ops room—breaks can become a victim. This blog by Chartered Ergonomist and Human Factors Specialist Stephen Shorrock offers some general guidelines about what kinds of tasks add to stress and fatigue and should be avoided during rest breaks. He places break activities into three categories which place different demands on the individual: red, amber and green activities. He also highlights that when it comes to breaks from operational duty, changes in activity are the key to reducing fatigue-related risks. -
Content ArticleThe Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) facilitated a half-day event on 17 March 2023 to ask how healthcare can understand and start to manage the risk of staff fatigue. Listen to a recording of the event.
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EventThis Hospital at Night Summit focuses on out of hours care in hospitals delivering high quality safe care at night, and supporting the wellbeing of those working at night. Through national updates, networking opportunities and case studies this conference provides a practical guide to delivering a high quality hospital at night and transforming out of hours services and roles to improve patient safety. The 2023 conference will focus on the developing an effective Hospital at Night service, and focus on the practicalities of supporting staff at night, improving wellbeing and fighting fatigue. Benefits of attending this conference will enable you to: Network with colleagues who are working to improve Hospital at Night Practice. Learn from recent developments. Improve your skills in the recognition management and escalation of deteriorating patients at night. Understand and evaluate different models for Hospital at Night. Examine the role of task management solutions for Hospital at Night, including handover and eObservations. Ensure effective and safe staffing at night. Improving and supporting the wellbeing of hospital at night staff. Examine Hospital at Night team roles, competence and improve team working. Improve safety through the reduction of falls at night. Supporting staff and reducing fatigue at night. Develop the role of Clinical Practitioner and Advanced Nursing Practice at night. Identify key strategies to change practice and ways of working in Hospital at Night. Understand how hospitals can improve conditions for night workers and support Junior Doctors. Self assess and reflect on your own practice. Supports CPD professional development and acts as revalidation evidence. This course provides 5 Hrs training for CPD subject to peer group approval for revalidation purposes. Register hub members receive a 20% discount. Email info@pslhub.org for discount code.
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Content ArticleBefore she got Covid-19 in October 2021, Professor Kerstin Sailer, who is 46 and from London, had a busy life as an academic and a mum of two daughters. This article tells Kerstin's story of living with Long Covid and its debilitating symptoms, including fatigue, heart palpitations and chest pain. She describes the 'boom and bust' nature of her symptoms and the impact that this has had on her work and personal life. She also talks about the support she received from a Long Covid clinic and how this has helped deal with some of her symptoms.
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Content ArticleA just and learning culture is the balance of fairness, justice, learning–and taking responsibility for actions. It is not about seeking to blame the individuals involved when care in the NHS goes wrong, nor the absence of responsibility and accountability. This report by NHS Resolution aims to promote the value of a person-centred workplace that is compassionate, safe and fair.
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News Article
UK GPs have the highest stress levels, finds survey of 10 countries’ doctors
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
GPs in the UK have some of the highest stress levels and lowest job satisfaction among family doctors, a 10-country survey has found. British GPs suffer from high levels of burnout, have a worse work/life balance and spend less time with patients during appointments than their peers in many other places. Heavy workloads, seemingly endless paperwork and feelings of emotional distress are prompting many GPs to stop seeing patients regularly or even retire altogether, the research found. Seven in 10 (71%) NHS family doctors find their job “extremely” or “very stressful”, the joint-highest number alongside GPs in Germany among the countries analysed. The Health Foundation, which undertook the survey, said its “grim” findings showed that the “unsustainable” pressures on GPs and number of them quitting pose a threat to the NHS’s future. -
Content ArticleGPs in the UK are under extreme strain and public satisfaction with general practice has plummeted. Pressures on general practice are not unique to the UK and GPs around the world are contending with the impact of the pandemic on their patients and working lives. The 2022 Commonwealth Fund survey compares perspectives from GPs across 10 high‑income countries. The survey asked GPs’ views about their working lives and wellbeing, quality of care and how services are delivered. The Health Foundation analysed the survey data to understand the experiences of GPs in the UK and how they compare to other countries.
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Content Article
In a series of blogs for the hub, we will be highlighting the impact fatigue has on staff and patients. In their first blog, Emma Plunkett and Nancy Redfern, part of the Joint Working Group on Fatigue, shared how they became involved in investigating night shift fatigue, setting up the Joint Working Group on Fatigue and the aims of the #FightFatigue campaign. In this second blog, Emma and Nancy are joined by Roopa McCrossan to highlight how tiredness can impact on our performance, the patient and staff implications of fatigue, and the actions that need to be taken not only at an organisational level to improve culture, but the effort required at national level too.- Posted
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Content ArticleThe Association of Anaesthetists (AoA) has developed a set of resources to help NHS staff and boards tackle the impact of healthcare worker fatigue. Part of the AoA's #FightFatigue campaign, these resources can be downloaded as a whole package or separate items.
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Content ArticleSleep deprivation and fatigue lead to a wide range of performance issues that may pose risks to workers and others in the work environment. This review in Frontiers in Neuroscience discusses relevant literature on the topic of fatigue-related performance effects, with a special emphasis physiological and behavioural response variables that have shown to be sensitive to changes in fatigue. It also looks at methods for mitigating these performance effects and discusses their usefulness in regulating them.
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Content ArticleIn this blog, Laura Pickup, Senior Investigation Science Educator at the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) talks about NHS staff fatigue in the run up to World Sleep Day and HSIB's fatigue event on 17 March 2023. She looks at the scientific basis of fatigue and the impact it can have on safety in healthcare settings. She also examines how the rail industry has made changes to deal with staff fatigue and improve safety, highlighting the unique challenges faced by healthcare due to workforce shortages. Laura highlights the conversation that HSIB has initiated about fatigue in healthcare and how to tackle the challenges it poses to safety.
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Content Article
In a series of blogs for the hub, Emma Plunkett and Nancy Redfern, part of the Joint Working Group on Fatigue, will highlight the impact staff fatigue has not only on the staff themselves but also on patient safety, and why healthcare needs a robust fatigue risk management system like other safety-critical industries. In their first blog, Emma and Nancy share how they became involved in investigating night shift fatigue after the death of a colleague driving home tired. They discuss how they set up the Joint Working Group on Fatigue and the aims of the #FightFatigue campaign. -
Content ArticleThis article in the journal Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery for the Clinician looks at the importance of recognising and addressing human factors in surgery. It explores human factors in the context of optimising individual performance, enhancing team working to improve patient safety, and creating better working lives for healthcare professionals across surgery and medicine.
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Content Article
This is part of our series of Patient Safety Spotlight interviews, where we talk to people working for patient safety about their role and what motivates them. Laura and Suzy talk to us about the importance of embedding human factors in the design of healthcare systems and tools, the importance of equipping staff to think about system safety, and their work to establish a nationwide conversation about the impact of fatigue. -
Content Article
Useful tips to aid sleep (Association of Anaesthetists)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Staff safety
This article by the Association of Anaesthetists offers guidance for healthcare workers on how to get a good sleep. It includes advice on the following techniques and ideas: Unchallenge your brain Have a hot bath Sleep in a way that works for you Be prepared Power napping tips -
Content ArticleIn this episode of the Coffee and a Gas podcast, consultant anaesthetists Dr Roopa McCrossan and Dr Emma Plunkett talk about fatigue and how they pioneered the Association of Anaesthetists' Fight Fatigue campaign.
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Content Article
Poster - Working well at night (RCOA, 8 November 2018)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Staff safety
This poster by the Royal College of Anaesthetists, The Association of Anaesthetists and the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine outlines practical principles for minimising the impact of fatigue for staff working night shifts. It includes tips for what to do before nights, during nights and between nights and advice on recovery after nights. -
Content Article
Guiding principles for determining work shift duration and addressing the effects of work shift duration on performance, safety, and health: guidance from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society (1 November 2021)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Workforce and resources
Regulators, organisations, communities and workers often struggle with how to manage shift duration and address associated risks from fatigue and sleepiness, while continuing to meet the societal demands for work. This article in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine proposes a series of guiding principles help design a shift duration decision-making process that effectively balances the need to meet operational demands with the need to manage fatigue-related risks. -
Content ArticleHealthcare is a $4 trillion component of the US economy, and the well-being of the clinician workforce is a major factor determining its effectiveness. Extensive evidence indicates that inefficiency, poorly designed workflows and processes, suboptimal teamwork, work overload, isolation, problems with work-life integration, and a professional culture that expects perfection and discourages help-seeking are currently contributing to high levels of occupational distress among clinicians. Although the problem and its impact on the health care delivery system are well defined, there is minimal evidence regarding effective interventions to drive progress. This knowledge gap is, in large part, due to the near-complete absence of federal funding for research to address one of the critical challenges facing the US health care delivery system.
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Content ArticleThis cross-sectional study, published in Workplace Health & Safety, used secondary survey data sent to approximately 7,100 health care workers at a large academic medical centre in the United States. Instruments included: the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture a WPV scale measuring physical and verbal violence perpetrated by patients or visitors the Emotional Exhaustion scale from the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Findings suggest that improvements in hospital strategies aimed at patient safety culture, including team cohesion with handoffs and transitions, could positively influence a reduction in physical and verbal violence perpetrated by patients or visitors, and burnout among health care workers.
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Content ArticleThis presentation by the European Patient Safety Foundation (EPSF) outlines the issues associated with healthcare worker fatigue and highlights case studies of interventions to help fight fatigue in healthcare. It introduces the Fight Fatigue in Europe campaign and outlines its five-year action plan to #FightFatigue.
