Physician Heal Thyself

The more time I spend around hospitals or medics the more worried I get. Our health service is underfunded and it's staff are at breaking point.  Every corridor has a notice for a fundraising event, each ward has a tombola or raffle and staff often look sicker than the patients.

A student nurse told my mum that she had only had two hours sleep.  "It's OK," she said because after this weekend there won't be more overtime for a while and I'll be back to my normal hours."
Her normal hours were irregular 12 hour shifts. I've met doctors on the stairs or in the lift who I saw when I visited the previous evening and that morning and I've asked them if they've been home.  They haven't. "I managed an hour in the on-call room," they beam.  They are young but it's unsustainable.  I know GPs my age who can't recruit staff or get up one morning and just can't do it anymore.

The proverb "Physician Heal Thyself," was, according to Luke, referred to by Jesus. It's not a new idea.  Patients did not want to be treated by doctors with leprous sores hanging off them then and we don't want to be treated by doctors and nurses who are sleep deprived and on the verge of a breakdown.

None of this is the fault of the staff who are unable to heal themselves. We are asking them to do the impossible.  My GP surgery has two full time GPs, and three 3/4 time GPs and has 13.552 patients registered.  It's time we had some grown up conversations about what we all need to do to make this work, for everyone including the staff.