Stressed UK Anaesthetists Get Extra Support As Survey Shows Almost A Quarter Feel Burnt Out

Main Category: Pain / Anesthetics
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 30 Oct 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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A leading medical society has launched a new welfare pack for its members after a survey showed that 23% of anaesthetists feel burnt out and one in six experience significant problems with depression and sleeping.

The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI) is working closely with the Doctors for Doctors Advisory Service, run by the British Medical Association (BMA), to provide members with support for personal and professional issues.

The initiative is the latest step in an ongoing campaign by AAGBI to tackle stress among anaesthetists.

"Earlier this year we asked a random sample of our members about the stresses and strains they face at work and at home" says Dr Mike Wee, Vice-president of the AAGBI and Chair of the Welfare Committee.

"More than two-thirds of the 169 anaesthetists who replied were consultants and they said that the three top stress factors they faced were a stressful environment (41%), lack of support (20%) and bullying (11%).

"They also told us that more than 80% of their colleagues had also suffered from significant stress issues."

Anaesthetists who took part in the survey talked about the difficulty of constantly changing shift patterns, poor management, lack of appreciation and workloads. Hospital targets, disciplinary culture, the difficulties of juggling work and home commitments and difficult relationships with other staff were also mentioned. The AAGBI Welfare Resource Pack is designed to provide members with a wide range of information. The first section aims to help members cope with the challenges of work and life - with section on subjects such as warning signs, bullying and harassment, how to cope with stressful situations and rights and responsibilities. The second section provides advice on how to access support, including up-to-date contact information on the AAGBI website.

"Modern medical careers combine the stresses and demands of professional life and the pressures of interpersonal relationships both at home and at work" explains Dr Wee, who worked closely with Dr Di Dickson, chair of the Welfare Committee working party that developed the pack.

"It is a well known fact that doctors are reluctant to recognise or admit to personal problems and seek help. This may affect their ability to carry out their duties effectively and safely.

"The AAGBI recognises that a proportion of its members will, at some time in their career, experience difficulties, either personal or professional, of sufficient severity to require external help.

"We hope that ready access to the Welfare Resource Pack and to the BMA's Doctors for Doctors Advisory Service will help members, and their colleagues in all specialties, to come through challenging times of their career and life and seek help earlier."

The international problems of stress in anaesthesia have been well documented in recent years.

• Figures presented at an AAGBI conference in 1995 showed that 30% of anaesthetists felt stressed a lot of the time and five per cent felt stressed all the time. A third (33%) described themselves as severely stressed and 7% said their stress was more than severe. This data provided important background information for AAGBI's 1997 report Stress in Anaesthetists.

• A study of 328 Finnish anaesthetists published in the Association's journal Anaesthesia (Lindfors et al, 2006) showed that they had the greatest on-call workload of all physicians. 68% felt stressed, mainly due to work and home pressures, and 25% had thought of committing suicide.

• And in another journal paper, one in five of the 422 specialist anaesthetists who took part in an Australian survey reported high levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation and 36% reported low levels of personal achievement (Kluger et al, 2003).

"Thirty percent of the general population will suffer from psychological illness at some point in their lifetime and the medical profession, far from being immune to this, may in fact be more vulnerable" says Dr Wee.

"Worldwide research shows that the medical profession faces challenging and stressful times and as professional organisations we have a responsibility to ensure that we provide our members with all the help we can.

"It is essential that we tackle stress in the workplace, as looking after the welfare needs of our members will also help them to look after their families and to serve patients to the best of their ability."

The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland is a leading representative body for anaesthetists in the UK and overseas and is one of the UK's largest single grant providers for anaesthetic research. It currently has around 10,000 members. http://www.aagbi.org

Anaesthetists are specialist doctors involved in the care of two-thirds of all hospital patients. Their expertise extends beyond the main operating theatre to acute and chronic pain management, leading resuscitation teams, managing Intensive Care Units, working in maternity units, accident and emergency departments and radiology, the care of some dental patients and the transfer of critically ill patients.

http://www.aagbi.org

Source
Annette Whibley
Wizard Communications
The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain