Proactive prevention

Last month's editorial delved into the mental health status of paramedics and the importance of seeking help. It also mentioned improvement among organisations in terms of offering support. However, unfortunately, as will be seen in the current issue, not every organisation falls into this category, and some paramedics feel a clear lack of support within their organisation.

In the current issue of the Journal of Paramedic Practice, Louise Crawford-Clark examines raised levels of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in ambulance staff on p. 322, potential reasons behind this increased prevalence, and what can be done, both pre and post exposure to prevent this. Also in this issue, on p 315, Dr Julian Hunt and colleagues present a particularly dark picture of the current state of affairs for ambulance services staff within the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust—a situation which I am sure readers will agree requires urgent and careful attention.

Hunt et al highlight significant budget cuts for ambulance services over the last decade, which have inevitably impacted their response and delivery of services to patients. They are thus struggling to meet performance targets, leading to a lack of morale, overwhelming workloads, an increase in moral distress and worrying numbers of individuals looking to leave the profession.