Study shows many NHS staff ‘traumatised’ by first wave of Covid

A study suggests that high numbers of hospital staff treating the sickest patients during the first wave of the pandemic were left traumatised by the experience.

Researchers at King’s College London questioned 709 hospital workers at nine intensive care units in England about how they were coping as the first wave eased.

Nearly 50 per cent reported symptoms of depression, severe anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder or problem drinking, and one in seven had thoughts of self-harming or feeling that they were ‘better off dead’.

The study found that nursing staff were more likely to report feelings of distress than doctors or other clinical staff in the anonymous survey, which was carried out in June and July last year.

Professor Neil Greenberg, lead researcher, said the findings should be a ‘wake-up call’ for the NHS.

Professor Greenberg added “The severity of symptoms we identified are highly likely to impair some ICU staff’s ability to provide high-quality care as well as negatively impacting on their quality of life.”

He went on to say that it was crucial to have ‘occupationally focused’ mental health care to ensure staff were kept fighting fit or where this was not possible, to ensure they received help and support to access the right sort of care.

He said that while their work suggested there may have been an improvement over the summer, there were signs that the numbers going through mental health problems would rise throughout the winter.

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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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