Almost 60% of frontline health and social care
workers (HSCWs) experienced a mental health disorder during the
first COVID-19 lockdown, with many suffering “very high rates of
distress”, suggests a new study led by researchers at UCL and the
University of Haifa, Israel.
Given the significantly high levels of mental health
disorders across all HSCWs, the researchers (part of the UCL-led
COVID Trauma Response Working Group*), are now calling for
long-term planning to meet the needs of staff from across health
and social care, including specialist trauma services to be set
up for healthcare workers, similar to the specialist commissioned
NHS psychological trauma services for military
veterans.
The ‘Frontline-COVID study', published in the
European Journal of Psychotraumatology, surveyed 1,194
HSCWs, who worked in UK hospitals, nursing or care homes and
other community settings, to identify and compare the rates of
mental health disorder across different job roles and places of
work.
The study, carried out just after the first wave of
COVID in the UK between 27 May and 23 July, 2020, found that 58%
of HSCWs met the threshold for any mental health disorder; 22%
met criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); 47% had
clinically significant anxiety and 47% had depression. Symptom
levels were high across all job roles and settings.
Importantly, the study found that it was not just
doctors and nurses who were experiencing clinically significant
distress, but all staff from across health and
care.
Furthermore, the research also identified some
specific mental health risk factors, principally: concern about
infecting others with COVID; being unable to talk with their
managers about how they were coping; feeling stigmatised (about
their role); and not having had reliable access to personal
protective equipment (PPE). Key predictors for PTSD included
staff being redeployed to other teams and having had COVID
themselves.
The research was conducted by the COVID Trauma
Response Working Group, formed by UCL psychiatrists and
psychologists, who are calling for immediate additional mental
health support for HSCWs. This is the first UK study to assess
mental health disorders across all health and social care
settings during COVID-19.
Lead author, Dr Talya Greene (UCL Psychiatry and
University of Haifa), said: “Our study shows that more than half
of health and social care staff surveyed met criteria for a
mental disorder following the first wave of COVID-19 in the UK.
Importantly, we found that rates of distress were high, not only
among doctors and nurses, but across a wide range of health and
social care roles, such as allied health professionals, ambulance
workers, hospital porters, pharmacists, and care home
staff.
“Let’s be clear: we may be on the verge of a mental
health crisis across the health and social care sector. So we
need to make sure that specialist help is offered and accessible
across all the different roles and settings.
“It is important that this support (for those that
need it) is planned for the long-term. Our findings highlight the
urgency for immediate long-term funding for specialist mental
health services for health and social care
workers.”
Co-author, Dr Jo Billings (UCL Psychiatry), said: “A
really important finding from our study is that it showed that,
in addition to doctors and nurses, all staff across the health
and social care sector need to be offered help. This study also
highlights the need for reliable access to PPE for all staff
working in health and social care roles, and further
investigation of barriers to communication between managers and
staff. Our findings also highlight that staff redeployed into new
frontline roles are at particular risk of being traumatised and
are likely to require additional support during
redeployment.”
Co-author, Dr Michael Bloomfield (UCL Psychiatry),
added: “Our colleagues in acute hospitals are doing fantastic
work under very difficult circumstances. At the same time we know
that many mental health clinicians are doing great work in
supporting frontline colleagues in need. Whilst our study is
based on self-report, and so needs to be interpreted with
caution, our findings nonetheless add to a growing body of
research on the toll of the pandemic on health and social care
workers. Importantly, our study has identified risk factors that
might help in better supporting staff. It’s important that staff
across the health and social care sector are offered this
support.”
*COVID
Trauma Response Working Group
