Thousands of doctors plan to leave NHS citing pandemic stress and burnout | UK News

Thousands of doctors plan to leave the NHS in the coming year, exhausted by the coronavirus pandemic.

A British Medical Association survey found that half of doctors plan to work fewer hours, one in four is more likely to take a career break and 21% are considering leaving the NHS for a different career.

The follow-up survey was attended by 2,099 people.

Many blamed their workload, including the inability to take breaks, and nearly 40% said they have nowhere at work where they can safely relax with co-workers.

An acute care doctor who described his workload told the BMA: “My own mental and physical health will have to become a priority at some point.”

The doctor, who has not been identified by the BMA, said: “A ‘break’ during my shift means I try to take 10 minutes in my office to have a cup of tea and catch up on a few. hundreds of emails that I need to read. before being necessarily called back.

“My usual end time on these shifts is about two hours after I sign up to check out. I spend my days off catching up with the rest of the emails I don’t have time to deal with at work. It’s exhausting.

“I started to explore career opportunities outside the NHS. I don’t know yet if I will be leaving clinical medicine, but I am seriously considering it. If the right opportunity presents itself, I will go for it.

“It’s a hard thing to consider, I love the NHS but I know I can’t keep up this pace indefinitely.”

In addition, the number of British doctors considering early retirement fell from 14% last June to 32% in the April survey.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the board of the BMA, said the results of the investigation showed a “deeply worrying” situation.

He said the NHS needed “talented and experienced professionals … more than ever to pull this country out of a once-in-a-generation health crisis.”

And there is no indication that the stress is ending – according to NHS England, the number of patients waiting for more …