We honour you

If the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted anything, it is the need to carefully consider our mental health. NHS workers have observed first-hand the consequences of the pandemic. Managing seriously ill patients, with limited resources, has created extreme pressure, specifically on staff working in intensive care and prehospital settings. The additional impact of supporting children and young people who are studying remotely and added financial concerns are just some of the impacts on our collective mental wellbeing. Those further affected by the death of a loved one, friend or colleague as a result of the pandemic, will have had the additional burden of grief.

Many NHS trusts responded quickly, establishing various support services for their staff, from counselling to online facilitated support groups. Some media reports referred to this unprecedented workload leading to ‘burnout’ in clinicians. However, this view might not accurately reflect how we are feeling. More accurately, many NHS staff may actually be experiencing what psychologists refer to as ‘moral injury’.