21 Jun 2023
New findings from the NHS CHECK study reveal that about one in ten NHS healthcare workers experienced suicidal thoughts during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Concerns were raised about the risk of suicide among healthcare workers during the pandemic after a number of high-profile cases were reported in the media. Researchers from UCL, the University of Bristol and King’s College London sought to investigate the prevalence and incidence of suicidal thoughts and behaviour among NHS healthcare workers in England and their relationship with occupational risk factors.
The team analysed responses from the NHS CHECK longitudinal online surveys completed by 22,501 healthcare workers (clinical and non-clinical), students, and volunteers in 18 NHS Trusts across England during the Covid-19 pandemic. Results, published in PLOS ONE, highlighted several factors which significantly contributed to staff distress during the pandemic:
- exposure to events that went against moral values;
- a lack of confidence about raising safety concerns and these concerns being addressed;
- feeling unsupported by managers; and
- having to provide a reduced standard of care.
Co-lead author of the paper, Dr Danielle Lamb (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care; ARC North Thames), said: “Our findings show a concerning number of healthcare workers experience suicidal and self-harm thoughts and behaviours. We identified several workplace risk factors such as feeling unsupported by managers, lack of confidence about raising safety concerns, and exposure to potentially morally injurious situations.
“Senior leaders should consider how they can address these systemic, structural factors, and hopefully reduce the number of staff who experience negative impacts on their mental health.”
ARC North Thames is the lead ARC on NHS CHECK, working collaboratively with 7 NIHR ARCs across the country. Funded by the UKRI-DHSC, MRC and other funders, it has received Urgent Public Health Priority status and will therefore be prioritised for resource allocation in any future emergency phase of the pandemic.
The study was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), Wellcome, Rosetrees Trust, Economic and Social Research Council [ESRC] and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, King's College London and NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Emergency Preparedness and Response at King's College London.
Find out more in the paper: ‘Suicidal thoughts and behaviour among healthcare workers in England during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study‘ by Prianka Padmanathan et al.
Click here to view coverage in The Guardian.
