Seven in ten GPs in the UK suffer from compassion fatigue, a gradual erosion of empathy towards their patients, according to a survey published Thursday by The Guardian daily.
The survey was carried out by the Medical and Dental Defense Union of Scotland (MDDUS), a support organization for healthcare professionals, among 1,855 doctors across the UK.
It shows that 71% of general practitioners and 62% of doctors in general say they have suffered from compassion fatigue.
In detail, it is the youngest doctors, aged between 25 and 34, who are the most affected by this phenomenon.
General practitioners are “particularly vulnerable” to this syndrome due to their “prolonged exposure to patient suffering and trauma” and their heavy workload, said Dr John Holden, who works for the MDDUS, quoted in the Guardian article.
Thus, 85% of general practitioners who had suicidal thoughts attributed this situation to their working conditions, which they considered degraded by a lack of resources.
Additionally, nearly half (44%) of survey participants worry that compassion fatigue makes them more likely to make a medical error.
Ultimately, it is patient safety that is at stake, warned Mr. Holden.
The new Labor government, elected at the beginning of July, has made the recovery of the public health system (NHS) a priority, which is exhausted with gigantic waiting lists of patients to obtain treatment and a hemorrhage of professionals.
He thus promised to release additional resources to the tune of 22.6 billion pounds by 2026.
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