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THE FINAL WORD

Michael West, head of thought leadership at the King’s Fund, commented on the fund’s autumn 2015 monitoring report on NHS performance  (Limb 2015) saying ‘ There’s an inherent irony or paradox that here is a sector that’s charged with promoting the health and wellbeing of the population but is damaging the health and wellbeing of staff in the process.’ He suggested that ‘Managers should see that their role is … to listen and learn about what they need to do to support staff to do their jobs more effectively.’

Balme et al (2015) also argue strongly that within medicine, the environment and work culture need to change to become more supportive. Although studies among midwives (Hunter and Warren 2013) and among doctors (Tregoning et al 2014) have indicated that the concept of resilience resonates with participants and can be pro-actively fostered, it is not sufficient simply to train healthcare professionals in resilience. This view is supported by Ballatt and Campling (2011) who have written about the need for healthcare professionals to approach each other with intelligent kindness and care and to develop such a culture throughout the NHS. This is crucial, as healthcare professionals who work in supportive environments that foster resilience are less likely to suffer from burnout and are more likely to treat their colleagues and patients with compassion.

 

To finish, watch this video to learn about this doctor's extraordinary story of personal resilience: