Following the effects of COVID-19, the already underfunded NHS now has over seven million people in the UK currently waiting for treatment (The Health Foundation, 2022). The NHS has truly reached its breaking point.
For this topic, I did consider doing the subject on environmental issues, but struggled to find a specific subject that I was passionate about. After struggling to find something, I decided to think about things other than the environment, in my life that I am passionate about. This brought me onto the subject of underfunding in the NHS, and the mental health of healthcare professionals.
This is contradictory to the words of Aneurin Bevan (Founder of the NHS) who said ” Illness is neither an indulgence for which people have to pay, nor an offence for which they should be penalized, but a misfortune the cost of which should be shared by the community.” (Bailey T., 2019).
Due to the long wait times and underfunding, more pressure is being put onto health professionals to work longer hours and get work done in a shorter time frame. This then leads to more stress and therefore a less healthy mental well-being for health professionals. A recent study found that 45% of staff working in an ICU reported symptoms of severe depression, severe anxiety or problem drinking (Greenberg et al., 2021).
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash.
One TV series that really shocked audiences with a mental health story is This is Going to Hurt, a series shown on the BBC, based on the book by Adam Kay. In the series, it follows junior doctor Adam Kay through his day to day life as a junior doctor in the NHS, showing the people he meets. It’s towards the end of the series that his colleague Shruti commits suicide, after pressure from her job and peers becomes too much. This unfortunately is a familiar occurrence in the NHS with doctors having up to 4 times the rate of suicide compared to the general population by some estimates (British Journal of Medical Practice, 2018).
Relevant to prior paragraph.
My audience for this subject is adults living in the UK, who are interested in the impact of pressures in the NHS on health professionals. The purpose of my animation is to educate people on what is happening to our health professionals, who care for people suffering with illness or accidents. By educating on this, it can encourage people to demand change in our NHS, or encourage them to be more understanding when they come into contact with health professionals.
References:
Media References:
Fig 1: Copper D. (2023) [Twitter] 02.01.2023. Available Online: https://twitter.com/libdemdaisy/status/1609863204363960323?cxt=HHwWhoCwkcKDsdcsAAAA [Accessed: 09.02.2023].
Fig 2: Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash
Fig 3: IMDB (2022) This is going to hurt (TV series) Available online: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8681148/ [Accessed: 09.02.2023]
Text References:
Bailey T. (2019) 7 Quotations That Define Aneurin Bevan. Available Online: https://radicalteatowel.co.uk/blog/7-quotations-that-define-aneurin-bevan [Accessed: 09.02.2023].
British Journal of Medical Practice (2018) Doctors and suicide. Available online: https://bjgp.org/content/68/669/168#:~:text=Throughout%20time%20and%20across%20the,the%20rate%20by%20some%20estimates. [Accessed: 09.02.2023].
Greenberg N., Weston D., Hall C., Caulfield T., Williamson V., Fong K., (2021) Mental health of staff working in intensive care during Covid-19. Available Online: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33434920/ [Accessed: 09.02.2023].
The Health Foundation (2022) public perceptions of health and social care: what the new government should now. Available online: https://www.health.org.uk/publications/reports/public-perceptions-of-health-and-social-care-what-government-should-know [Accessed: 09.02.2023].