An expert group of senior medics says the next Scottish government must put doctors’ wellbeing at the heart of NHS workforce planning if they are to avoid doctors leaving in numbers that could make the NHS unsustainable and undermine patient safety.

Survey findings released to coincide with the publication of a new report, Wellbeing by Design, suggest 66% of doctors have experience of burnout at work.

The medical defence organisation MDDUS convened an expert group to examine growing concerns about the wellbeing of its members, and the impact stress and burnout are having on their clinical practice. The clinicians, medical educators and healthcare managers were also asked to identify practical, system-level solutions and to made recommendations for NHS leaders and government.

The MDDUS says their report Wellbeing by Design is an urgent “call to arms” for candidates standing in May’s Holyrood elections to commit to policies that make protecting doctors’ mental health and wellbeing “a non-negotiable requirement of NHS workforce planning”.

The Wellbeing by Design report makes five recommendations:

• Commission a comprehensive national review of doctors’ wellbeing and its impact on patient safety, quality of care and workforce retention;
• Set out and publish a measurable national target to improve doctor wellbeing and reduce burnout, reported annually to parliament;
• Guarantee safe workloads, predictable rotas, rest spaces and protected learning time so individuals and teams can deliver sustainable care;
• Maintain and, where necessary, enhance funding for evidence-based wellbeing support, with investment linked to measurable outcomes; and
• Publish an annual State of Doctor Wellbeing in Scotland report, linked to performance and safety, and requiring every Health Board to do the same locally.

Burnout

Of 333 Scottish doctors who responded to a UK-wide survey of MDDUS staff last November, 219 (66%) stated agreed with the statement “I have experienced or am experiencing burnout at work” compared with 26% who said they have not experienced burnout.

The report defines burnout as a work-related condition caused by chronic, unmanaged workplace stress, characterised by emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and a reduced sense of professional accomplishment, which erodes both doctors’ wellbeing and their ability to practise safely.

The chair of the independent expert group, former chief executive of the GMC, Niall Dickson, says the next Scottish government must invest in the wellbeing of healthcare professionals if confidence in medicine as a sustainable career is to be rebuilt:

“The challenge for Scotland’s leaders is to work with professionals to set out a long-term vision for a health system that restores trust, prioritises staff wellbeing and delivers safe care.

“The report is realistic. Much of what it proposes has been tried elsewhere and could be delivered without significant additional resources.

“But this requires a clear commitment to wellbeing by design rather than crisis response. Without that shift, Scotland will continue to lose experienced clinicians and patients will feel the consequences.”

Professor Lindsey Pope, a Greenock GP and medical educationalist at the University of Glasgow and member of the expert group added:

“Patients need doctors who can practise medicine in conditions that protect their wellbeing rather than test it.

“That requires systems and workplaces built with wellbeing in mind from the outset.

“Any incoming government that wants to sustain patient services will need to accept that reality.”

Chris Kenny, the chief executive of MDDUS which brought the expert group together, says politicians need to recognise that the current system is not protecting staff and supporting safe practice:

“The wellbeing of doctors is inseparable from the wellbeing of patients.

“This report sets out practical changes that could begin to address a crisis that is now affecting the sustainability of care across Scotland. We’re offering politicians a blueprint for change.”

 

The members of the expert group included:

• Prof Lindsey Pope, GP and Professor of Medical Education
• Dr Iain Morrison, Chair, Scottish General Practice Committee, British Medical Association
• Dr Chris Provan, Chair, RCGP Scottish Council, Royal College of General Practitioners
• Prof Hany Eteiba, President, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
• Dr Katharine Jones, GP NHS Highland and Founder of Wild-Ness Health
• Melanie Reid, journalist and commentator living with paralysis since a horse-riding accident in 2010
• Dr John Holden, chief medical officer, MDDUS

 

Read more: Meaningful change promised on medical workforce; NHS is working to address “unacceptable” abuse; “Mayday”: voices from NHS emergency departments; Less than full-time – behind the NHS trend

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