Duty-bound to provide care for our carers

The physical, emotional and economic strain wrought on society by Covid is difficult to overstate. It has impacted on all walks of life and, more than a year since the pandemic was first declared, continues to dominate the waking thoughts of a huge number of people and impact upon their actions.

The fallout from a mental health perspective – even for those who have not contracted the virus – has been enormous.

It can be no surprise therefore that those who have been at the very eye of the Covid storm from day one are suffering themselves.

A new survey carried out among members of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine lays that bare.

“Those at the eye of the Covid storm are suffering themselves

More than half of those polled said they had experienced extreme levels of exhaustion and stress as the NHS faced up to the toughest fight of its life.

A quarter of A&E specialists are considering a sabbatical in order to regroup, recharge and refocus.

But it must be remembered that emergency medicine is just one subset of the wider health and care community.

The burden brought by Covid has sat on many shoulders and the risk of burnout among those who have cared for the country at one of its lowest ebbs is both acute and widespread.

It is an issue that cannot be swept under the carpet and addressing it will be costly both in terms of time and money.

But it is an investment that not only is worth making, but must be made.

Political and healthcare leaders have just as great a duty of care to healthcare workers as anyone else and the support they need right now is considerable.

As the NHS gets back on track and looks to make headway against the huge backlog of case work that Covid put on the backburner, we are duty-bound as a society to care for our carers.