Doctors in danger of ‘burnout’ put patient care at risk

DOCTOR burnout is putting ‘enormous strain’ on the health service, the Irish Medical Organisation’s (IMO) annual conference has heard.

Professor Gaye Cunnane, health and wellbeing director at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, said that the issue of physician health and wellbeing needed to be urgently addressed to ensure patient safety and workforce retention.

‘Burnout is a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion caused by long-term exposure to chronically stressful conditions without adequate reprieve,’ she said. ‘It is not the same as depression, but there are parallels. Burnout is specifically work-related.’

Prof Cunnane, right, made the comments at the IMO’s annual general meeting in Killarney, Co. Kerry on Saturday. Health Minister Simon Harris was scheduled to address the event on Saturday afternoon.

She said a recent study by Dr Blanaid Hayes of Beaumont Hospital showed that up to a third of Irish hospital doctors met the criteria for burnout, and 10% for serious depression or anxiety.

Prof Cunnane described the figures as ‘extremely concerning’ and said the issue needed to be actively addressed to ‘ensure that the nation’s doctors are healthy and not being injured by the system in which they work’.

Dr Pádraig McGarry, incoming president of the IMO, said doctor and patient welfare were very important issues for the organisation.

‘It is crucial that health service employers particularly recognise this as a problem and put in place programmes to support doctors at all career stages,’ he said.

‘As doctors, we can sometimes prioritise the health of our patients ahead of our own, so we need to be more aware of how we are feeling so that we can perform at our best.’

Meanwhile, consultants have warned of industrial action if the Government does not end the two-tier pay system for specialists. Since late 2012, new specialists get paid a lower grade than colleagues who have been in situ before them.

Dr McGarry welcomed Mr Harris’s comments and said they would be writing to Mr Harris to seek a formal start to the process.