Health

More healthcare workers seeking help for stress, burnout, anxiety and medication

Practitioner Health Matters Programme, which provides service to doctors, reported marked increase in use

There has been an increase in healthcare workers seeking help for burnout and stress. Photograph: Jeff Moore/PA

Shauna Bowers
Wed Jul 3 2024 - 08:55

There has been a “significant” increase in the number of healthcare workers seeking help for stress, burnout, anxiety and depression over the past five years, according to a service for these medics.

On Wednesday, Practitioner Health Matters Programme (PHMP), which provides a confidential service to doctors, dentists and pharmacists who may be experiencing mental health difficulties, published its 2023 annual report.

It found some of these healthcare workers contemplate suicide, quitting their job or use drugs or alcohol to self-medicate their problems.

According to the report, last year there were 107 new presentations to the service, a 48 per cent increase in the five-years since 2018. There were also 10 repeat presentations.

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Of those presenting, 87 per cent were doctors, including 27 consultants and 21 general practitioners.

The number of pharmacists and dentists presenting to the service remains low at 6.54 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively.

[ ‘We’re very, very expendable’: Why junior doctors are leaving Ireland ]

More than 63 per cent of practitioners presenting were aged between 26 and 49 years old. 62 of the presentations were women, while 45 were men.

According to the report, the most predominant issues include anxiety, depression, and burnout. The programme said that some of the people presenting to the service have “reached such a level of distress that they are contemplating suicide”.

Dr Íde Delargy, medical director of PHMP, said junior doctors, also known as non-consultant hospital doctors, are one of the most frequently presenting occupations.

“That’s a combination of things, but often the demand of the job and the long hours can lead to feeling burnout and stress. They’re often affected by a lack of sleep,” she said.

“They often find themselves asking ‘where do I turn to?’ and they worry if they disclose [their mental health difficulties] then what impact that would have on their career. And these junior doctors can be asked to deal with complicate and challenging medical conditions and that can be quite scary [at the start of your career].”

Dr Delargy said people “often leave it late to present” meaning they are in crisis when they receive help.

“We have seem some, a number, who are suicidal, and who want to end it all. We have others who consider leaving the profession. And substance misuse is a smaller number; it does come into it for sure, but only about 15 or 20 per cent of presentations,” she said.

If you are affected by any of the issues in this story, you can contact The Samaritans on freephone 116 123

Shauna Bowers

Shauna Bowers

Shauna Bowers is Health Correspondent of The Irish Times

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