Wellbeing of doctors and students is being placed at enormous risk as pressure within the profession fuels a serious mental health crisis amongst the workforce, a new report by the British Medical Association has revealed. A survey of more than 4,300 doctors and medical students in the UK, which informed the report, revealed worrying levels of burnout, a high prevalence of psychological and emotional conditions, and a concerning number turning to alcohol, drugs or prescribed medication to cope with their condition.
The findings are alarming, with eight in ten respondents at high or very high risk of burnout, just over a quarter having been diagnosed with a mental health condition, and four in ten currently suffering from a broader range of psychological or emotional conditions.
Key findings from the survey revealed that the majority of doctors (80%) were at very high risk of burnout with junior doctors most at risk. More than a quarter (27%) of respondents reported being diagnosed with a mental health condition at some point, and 7% said they were diagnosed in the past year; 40% of respondents reported currently suffering from a broader range of psychological and emotional conditions. Doctors working the longest weekly hours (51 or more hours per week) were most likely to say they were currently suffering. 90% of respondents stated that their current working, training, or studying environment had contributed to their condition either to a significant or partial extent. In primary care, half of GPs said they or their practice had sought help or support for a condition affecting their work or training and while the majority of respondents said they did not use alcohol, drugs, self-medication or prescribing as a way to cope with a mental health condition, one in three said they used it regularly or occasionally. Men and older doctors were most likely to engage in regular use of alcohol/drugs/self-medication/prescribing to cope with their condition.
As well as the need to address the pressures which are negatively impacting medical students and doctors’ mental health, the BMA is calling for a fundamental shift in the current workplace culture with a view to building a supportive working environment, enhancing access to support services and ending the worrying stigma of doctors feeling unable to seek help.
Professor Dinesh Bhugra CBE, BMA president and Emeritus Professor of Mental Health & Cultural Diversity at Kings College, London, who launched the survey on medical students’ and doctors’ mental health and wellbeing, said, “This report shines an important light on the alarming mental health crisis currently burdening the medical workforce as the link between the current pressures on doctors and poor mental health can no longer be ignored.
“The findings speak for themselves...While there is no denying that being a doctor is a challenging and demanding role, too often the line of what can be considered routine pressures of the job has most definitely been crossed and the consequence is a workforce that has been pushed to literal breaking point.
“As the people who are entrusted with caring for the health of others, doctors often feel particularly vulnerable or unable to come forward and seek help for fear of judgement and or any perceived ramification a declaration of poor mental health may have on their prospective career.
“As well as focusing on addressing the immediate pressures which are negatively impacting doctors, such as long working hours, unmanageable workloads and rota gaps, we need to see a wider cultural shift that addresses this stigma that currently inhibits doctors seeking help and ensures that support is publicised and readily available for those who do so.
“A system that fails to support and protect the health of its own workforce will only flounder and this is as clear a call to action if ever there was one.”
To gain a more in-depth look at the particular challenges facing medical trainees and the impact on mental health, the BMA gave a research grant to Swansea University to produce a paper: ‘Personal stories of doctors in training with experience of mental illness'. The BMA has also commissioned new qualitative research, so that the organisation can understand the participants' needs better, and the findings will be published in summer 2019.