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Catching up with #medtwitter and some rather smug reactions from UK docs to US docs being up at 3:30 am and effects on burnout.
But is the UK system really any better? THREAD https://twitter.com/JessMillar15/status/1197632030512689152
But is the UK system really any better? THREAD https://twitter.com/JessMillar15/status/1197632030512689152
In 2007, US residents worked an average of 59.3hrs/week, dropping to 49.6 once non-resident. [1] (I couldn't find a more recent source for this).
It's clearly higher than EWTD, but again not miles away from what junior doctors work now.
1. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/185433
It's clearly higher than EWTD, but again not miles away from what junior doctors work now.
1. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/185433
Burnout rates in US docs might be as high as 43.9% [2], and in the UK estimates range from 17-52% [3].
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025619618309388
3. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-bulletin/article/burnout-and-psychiatric-morbidity-among-doctors-in-the-uk-a-systematic-literature-review-of-prevalence-and-associated-factors/08E4992134A26D418F6526FE5728BC65
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025619618309388
3. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-bulletin/article/burnout-and-psychiatric-morbidity-among-doctors-in-the-uk-a-systematic-literature-review-of-prevalence-and-associated-factors/08E4992134A26D418F6526FE5728BC65
So despite all the added protections, the burnout rate in the UK seems to be in the same ballpark as our US counterparts
In the US, doctors commit suicide at a rate of 28-40 per 100,000[4].
In England, the number is more difficult to get, because deaths are classed by ONS as 'health professionals' which is necessarily broad.
4. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/07/31/634217947/to-prevent-doctor-suicides-medical-industry-rethinks-how-doctors-work
In England, the number is more difficult to get, because deaths are classed by ONS as 'health professionals' which is necessarily broad.
4. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/07/31/634217947/to-prevent-doctor-suicides-medical-industry-rethinks-how-doctors-work
But using that figure of 430 deaths[5] between 2011-2015, and the number of doctors practising, gives us a rate of 68/100,000
5. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/suicidebyoccupationenglandagespecificcounts
5. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/suicidebyoccupationenglandagespecificcounts
'Not committing suicide' isn't a marker of wellbeing, and cold statistics don't describe the individual hurt of every death, but it is clear that even with our later wake up times, UK healthcare has little to be proud of when it comes to doctor wellbeing.
Disclaimer- this isn't an area that I'm familiar with, and this comes with all my own biases. It's also not comparing 'apples to apples' between the UK and US, so this barely scratches the surface of the issues, which can hardly be summarised in a million characters let alone 280
For a far better look into this work by @jopo899 & @OrthopodReg and lots of others, and the recent GMC report on wellbeing which has some excellent recommendations to stem this issue.
