The last few years have been difficult for everyone, and this is particularly true for health-care professionals, who have been at the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of you may have lost colleagues, many of you are likely to feel exhausted, perhaps unvalued by ministers or the public or taken for granted, and many of you may have considered a change in careers. The impact of the pandemic on staff wellbeing can never be understated. Christmas et al's (2022) study, published in the previous issue of CHHE, showed that the pandemic put staff at risk of burnout, work-related stress, and fatigue; it negatively affected work-life balance and led to an increased sense of isolation and a lack of engagement.
And of course, all of this will also affect health professionals' ability to care for others, not to mention the quality of our vital services. The airplane safety analogy springs to mind – we must put on our own oxygen masks before coming to the aid of others.
As Trumello et al (2020) recommend: ‘If, as it seems, we will have to acclimate to living with the risk of pandemics in our future, it is certainly important to be prepared, especially by supporting the professionals who will work on the frontline.’
If positive action on staff wellbeing are not consistently and continually taken over the course of the coming years, we risk seeing a deterioration in our health-care services as burnt-out staff walk away. We are already at breaking point. And this problem is not just UK-wide, the pandemic has taken its toll across the world.
So self-care has never been more important, as Sharon White discusses (see page 153). Strategies to combat the pandemic's exacerbating factors but also other factors that were already affecting staff wellbeing well before COVID-19 should be holistic, considering both the person and their environment (Christmas et al, 2022). They should be led by governments, employers, and the professional itself. It should be a national priority.
In a sector where the professionals so often put themselves last, we must work harder than ever to ensure that they – and those who lead them – put them first, top of the priority list. Only then can we care properly for the many, many children and young people who need us.