Record levels of NHS staff seek mental health help in crisis deemed ‘worse than pandemic’

Record levels of NHS staff are seeking mental health help as clinicians warn the “crisis” facing workers is “worse than the pandemic”.

Hundreds of staff are being referred to the specialist mental health service, NHS Practitioner Health, with 842 workers referred in October 2022 – up from 534 in the same month the year before and 371 in 2020.

Around 40 per cent of the staff seeking the service are GPs and 50 per cent are hospital doctors.

The news comes as The Independent reported that the NHS and government are set to axe funding for 40 mental health hubs set up for health and social care workers following the pandemic.

Charities who support staff warned they are overwhelmed with demand, with one organisation reporting that more than 5,000 ambulance staff needed help in the past year.

Amandip Sidhu, of Doctors in Distress, which offers workers mental health support, said: “Health workers believe that the crisis they are currently dealing with is worse than during the pandemic and exacerbated by the fact there is no end in sight, with little evidence that decision-makers are taking steps to improve the situation.

“The fact that the public, their patients, lack sympathy or understanding is making many medics feel isolated and completely unappreciated.”

Lucy Warner, chief executive for NHS Practitioner Health said the demand for its services was the highest it has been in its 15 years.

“It’s cumulative factors of three years of working through a pandemic, there hasn’t really been much in the way of respite ... I think what we’re seeing at the moment, is those people who’ve kept going for the best part of two or three years, while other colleagues have had to take a break, or have had to take some time out,” she said.

During the pandemic, the main reason workers sought support was due to anxiety, however, this has shifted in the past two months to “workload and work pressures” becoming the dominant reason, she said.

Ms Warner also said staff coming through were even more unwell than in previous years, with about 80 per cent of people having moderate or moderately severe anxiety. She warned that levels of staff needing support were likely to increase as strike action goes on.

She said it was important to note that three-quarters of people signed off sick for mental health reasons have been able to return to work after their treatment.

This week, 37,000 junior doctors voted to take a three-day strike next month if the government fails to open talks with the British Medical Association (BMA) over pay. Further strikes are planned by ambulance workers on 8 March, while nurses have suspended their action to discuss pay with the health secretary.

Dr Latifa Patel, workforce lead at the BMA, said its counselling service received 6,000 calls in the past year – more than double the number compared to during the pandemic.

Dr Patel added: “With the current backlog of care following Covid-19, healthcare staff are still recovering from the pandemic and this is a huge burden on the well-being of doctors. Staff are feeling the full impact of a lack of support for their well-being and are experiencing burnout. Coupled with a complete lack of appreciation in what they are paid and their working environments. This strain is causing an exodus of doctors leaving the health service completely, adding to the workforce crisis that the NHS currently faces.

“Ministers must do more to protect our doctors and pay them properly for their invaluable work. Underpinning this is the need for an effective workforce plan to help us tackle the rise in demand for such services and help our staff.”

Meanwhile, The Ambulance Staff Charity, which offers support to ambulance workers, said there had been a 49 per cent year-on-year increase in staff seeking its support in the past three years. Between April 2022 and January 2023, it has been contacted by 5,429 staff needing support.

Its chief executive, Karl Demian, said: “We’ve seen everything from dealing with the stresses of the job or the long-term impact of a traumatic call out to anxiety about returning to work after being attacked by someone they were trying to help, and even reasons that were not related to the ambulance service at all.”

Labour shadow mental health minister Rosena Alline Khan said: “After 13 years of Conservative failure to train the staff the NHS needs, those on the frontline are overstretched and burnt out.

“During the worst crisis our NHS has experienced, with hospitals buckling under the pressure, staff will continue to suffer. NHS staff, who risked their lives during the pandemic, deserve so much better.”

She said the next Labour government would recruit 8,500 more mental health professionals, double medical school places and train 10,000 extra nurses and midwives.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Supporting the mental health and well-being of the workforce is a priority. Staff can access NHS Practitioner Health, a national support service for those with more complex mental health needs brought about by serious issues such as trauma or addiction.”

The NHS will publish a long-term workforce plan in spring to recruit and retain more staff, they added.

If you have been impacted by this story and need support NHS Practioner Health can be contacted here. If you are struggling and need mental health crisis support Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123.