Fatigued physicians are also significantly more likely to consider quitting, regret choosing medicine as a career, be dissatisfied with their work, and receive low patient satisfaction ratings. The findings, published in the British Medical Journal, have sparked fresh concern about the wellbeing and pressures on doctors in the NHS, given widespread evidence that many are experiencing stress and burnout from overwork. A joint team of British and Greek researchers analyzed 170 previous observational studies on the relationship between burnout among doctors, their professional commitment and the quality of patient care. These papers were based on the views and experience of 239,246 doctors in countries such as the US, UK and others in Africa, Asia and elsewhere worldwide. They found that physicians who had burned out were twice as likely as their peers to have been involved in patient safety incidents, to demonstrate low levels of professionalism, and to have been rated poorly by patients for the quality of care they provided. Doctors aged 20 to 30 and those working in A&E or intensive care were more likely to experience burnout. It was defined as including emotional exhaustion, depersonalization – a “negative, harsh” detachment from their work – and a sense of diminished personal success. Burnout is a huge problem among NHS doctors. The General Medical Council’s latest annual survey of UK practicing doctors, published in July and based on responses from 67,000 doctors, found that “the risk of burnout is now at its worst since it was first identified in 2018” due to a large workloads, which have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Two-thirds of trainees told the medical regulator that they “always” or “often” felt exhausted at the end of their working day, while 44% regularly felt “exhausted in the morning at the thought of another day at work”. The BMJ paper says: “This systematic review and meta-analysis provides compelling evidence that burnout is strongly associated with physician career disengagement and suboptimal patient care.” In January, the Medical Defense Association, which represents doctors accused of wrongdoing, released survey findings showing that a large minority of doctors are sleep deprived and that 26% of them said fatigue had affected their ability to provide safe care. Dr Michael Farquhar, a specialist in children’s sleep problems at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Trust in London, said sleep deprivation made doctors more likely to make mistakes such as miscalculating drug doses. They may also need more time to assess a patient’s symptoms and arrive at a diagnosis, he added. Responding to the new BMJ findings, Dr Latifa Patel, chair of the representative body of the British Medical Association, said: “This report will come as no surprise to doctors and medical students. Burnout isn’t just a matter of personal well-being or career satisfaction – it’s a matter of patient safety. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “Tired, under-appreciated and under-appreciated doctors are unable to work to their full potential and these numbers throw into alarming relief what this means for patient care. “The dire consequences of burnout are rooted in the workforce crisis and if the NHS cannot recruit or retain staff, the vicious cycle of poor patient care will accelerate.” Dr Rob Hendry, the medical director of the Medical Protection Society, another medical advocacy organisation, said: “When doctors burn out and burn out, it’s not only detrimental to their personal well-being, it puts patient care at risk. “If we don’t act now, unfortunately, many more passionate and dedicated doctors will become burned out and disillusioned. Others will choose to leave the medical profession, resulting in a loss of patient expertise and further strain on stretched resources.” The Department of Health and Social Care said it had taken steps to improve patient safety. It required all NHS trusts in England to tell patients if their safety has been compromised and to apologise, to give whistleblowers legal protection and to appoint a ‘freedom to speak ombudsman’ at each trust with which the staff concerned about security issues are encouraged to ask. worries.
