This week I did consider writing my blog around the ‘news’ that Mr Potato Head has become ‘gender neutral’. But in the end, I thought that in the middle of a global pandemic there were probably more important things to worry about. And despite the pandemic, I have felt in a good place these last few weeks. Last week, for example, it really did feel like Spring was in the air. We had cold mornings that quickly became warm sunny days.
Last week also brought back memories
of Spring 2020 and the start of the Covid19 pandemic. As I write this, we are
just 26 days away from that first lockdown anniversary. I don’t think many of
us back then would have thought we would still be dealing with the pandemic a
year later. But slowly and surely, dealing with it, we certainly are. This
current lockdown has been much harder for many folk than that first one. For those
having to commute to work, days have started dark and have been dark before the
journey home is started. The past few months have been cold, wet, and generally
miserable, with nowhere to go to, eat out or mix with friends. At least last
Spring and early Summer, we could all be outside in the warm sunshine. Even for
those without a garden, there were plenty of green spaces to go to for
exercise.
I think on a personal note, one
of the reasons last week felt so good was that I had a very quiet week of meetings.
Not that I mind work meetings of course, but there were long periods each day
that were meeting free. Interestingly, three of the meetings I attended (and
all were with different groups and organisations) had a focus on people’s
wellbeing. One meeting discussed what steps we might need to take to start to
get our full range of NHS services back on track. Top of the agenda was the acknowledgment
that we couldn’t begin to do that, until we found effective ways of helping our
staff recover and regain their energy, motivation, and their mojo once more.
For most people who have been directly
involved in providing health and social care to our diverse communities, such
recovery is likely to take some time. For some people, recovery may be a long
while off and sadly some will not feel able to take that step back to a re-positioned
normality and will leave the NHS. I was pleased to see the announcement last
week of the setting up of 40 dedicated mental health hubs across the England. They
will be modelled upon the successful Greater Manchester Resilience Hub. This
was set up after the Manchester Arena attack in 2017 to help NHS staff who were
traumatised by having to deal with the victims and survivors of the atrocity. Since
that time and during the pandemic, the Manchester hub has helped over 4,200
people. One of the meetings last week brought into sharp relief the
psychological harm and trauma that some colleagues had experienced over the
last year. It was also good to hear that these colleagues were receiving help
and support.
Unfortunately, there are other
staff who simply don’t seek or choose to access the help that is available. There
is still a great deal of stigma over seeking formal help for a mental health
problem. Health care professionals are often reluctant to take advantage of the
help that is available, or feel it’s too difficult to do so. The mental health
hubs will therefore take a more proactive approach so as to better ‘reach out’
to those who might be deemed at high risk of experiencing psychological harm.
Clearly, those working in intensive care units, emergency care departments and
Covid19 wards are likely to feature in these high risk groups. So, it was
wonderful that in that third meeting last week I heard a very eminent, highly-respected,
and experienced surgeon talk about his mental health problems. He told of the support
he had received and his commitment to help ensure other colleagues struggling
also seek and receive help.
The telling of his story also
made me think about what else we might be able to do to improve the health and
wellbeing of not just our health colleagues, but the wider population. Next
week is the beginning of Spring, and on March 3rd, the UK Chancellor Rishi
Sunak will set out his Spring Budget. Yesterday’s papers were full of stories
either demanding that Sunak reward all health care workers with an across the
board £2,000 pay rise or saying that Boris and Sunak are set to ignore the magnificent
efforts of the NHS during the pandemic by not rewarding them at all. I think
the truth may well be somewhere in between, but time will soon tell.
What I would be more interested in
is whether Sunak is able to do something that will impact upon the social determinants
of good health. An individual’s employment status, their income, and where they
might live will almost certainly have a greater impact upon their health than
having access to high quality health care. I hope some of the measures the Chancellor
introduced during the pandemic will continue for a while longer yet. I’m sure
that protecting people’s employment through the furlough scheme for example
will reap both economic and health benefits in the longer term.
We should also remember that in
many places across the UK, the NHS is the largest employer by far. You will
have probably read of the 60% increase in nurse training applications this year.
Partly driven I suspect, by a sense of wanting to be part of a caring profession,
but also partly driven by the notion of gaining secure employment. Of course,
the NHS also plays a significant part in maintaining and growing local economies
through the goods and services it buys. NHS Trusts are truly anchor organisations
in many communities. I hope as Spring arrives, and the lockdown begins to ease,
that with Summer on the horizon, we can find many more ways to work together to
create a better, healthier community in which to live.
PS – It’s great that Lady Gaga has got her dogs back, but what a shame she has to employ a dog walker. Exercise is one of the best ways to improve one’s mental health and wellbeing.
*apologies to Leo Tolstoy
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