Care of hospital patients in the UK is under threat because overworked frontline doctors are looking after so many sick people that they are missing vital signs of illness that could affect chances of survival. [s]The Guardian[/s] quotes Sir Richard Thompson, president of the [b]Royal College of Physicians[/b], as saying that hospital doctors are running around 'like a scalded cat' trying to look after up to 70 elderly patients at a time, far more than the maximum of 20 regarded as necessary to ensure they receive proper attention. Doctors spec ialising in acute medicine are so stretched they are not able to spend the ideal minimum of 15 minutes investigating each patient's symptoms because they have too many patients to get round in a typical seven-hour shift, he added. Widespread understaffing, especially overnight and at weekends, is posing a direct threat to patients' safety, he warned.
More than two-thirds of the UK's [b]National Health Scheme[/b] staff have dragged themselves into work despite feeling unwell. [s]Personnel Today[/s] reports that the latest [i]NHS Staff Survey[/i] has shown that of those who had attended work while unwell, 91% said they had put themselves under pressure to attend; 32% felt under pressure to do so from their manager; and 23% said they were under pressure from other colleagues.
Increasing numbers of UK doctors are seeking help from dedicated mental health support services – and 59% of them score above the threshold for burnout in self-report evaluation questionnaires. [s]Occupational Medicine[/s] reports that research found that self-referrals increased more than four-fold, from 44 in 2002 to 185 in 2011. Just over 60% of the doctors using the service also scored above the threshold for psychological distress, a proportion that remained consistent over the 10 years studied.
[link url=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/apr/04/patient-care-under-threat-overworked-doctors-miss-signs-expert]Full report in The Guardian[/link]
[link url=http://www.personneltoday.com/hr/health-service-staff-work-sick]Full Personnel Today report[/link]
[link url=http://www.nhsstaffsurveys.com/Page/1006/Latest-Results/2013-Results]NHS Staff Survey[/link]
[link url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24556463]OM abstract[/link]