Doctors suffering burnout need compassion, not blaming

 New Delhi, July 29: Hailed as gods on earth, healthcare staff — particularly doctors and nurses — are significantly prone to burnout. A new book stresses the need to increase compassion for them. Professor Dame Clare Gerada, a London-based general practitioner, and former president of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), UK, called for a more comprehensive guidance that focuses on “kindness” and “sensitivity”.

Citing the infamous case of the troubled Tanzanian-Indian prodigy and psychiatrist Dr Daksha Emson who took her own life and her daughter Freya in 2000, and a junior doctor Rose Polge who reportedly drowned herself in 2016, she said that employers often treat physicians as “naughty school children” when they go sick or suffer mental health problems.

Emson was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and Polge suffered acute self-esteem issues. Her book ‘The Handbook of Physician Mental Health’ also highlights how suicide rates are up four times in doctors, as compared to other professional groups. General Physicians, psychiatrists and doctors trained overseas among healthcare workers are the ones especially at risk.

Importantly, female clinicians face the double whammy of a second shift, first caring for the patients and their families. Increased workload, bullying, and racism lead to doctors developing depression, anxiety, etc. While there is guidance on how doctors should behave when unwell or consulting with a sick colleague, it is in the form of avoidance and blame, which needs to be changed urgently, Gerada said. Patient complaints, moving around for better prospects, and unsatisfactory treatment further worsen the case as it alienates the doctors and increases the existing loneliness.