Mental health provision

The survey also found that 640 GPs felt the provision for children with mental health issues in their area was not good enough. Some 508 GPs felt the same about adult provision. Dr Shire spoke to BBC News and LBC about the results. She told the BBC: “It’s not a surprise to anybody that the number of people seeking help for mental health conditions has increased. “There’s been an increase in mental health conditions since Covid.

Anxiety and depression

“Quite a lot of people said the first time they experienced anxiety or depression was during the pandemic. “I think we need to celebrate the fact people feel able to ask for help, rather than criticising them for asking for help. “And then look at why they are asking for help and what help is available for them?” Asked whether neurodivergent conditions such as ADHD were over-diagnosed, Dr Shire said it was more likely that diagnosis was ‘catching up’ with the number of neurodivergent people. She said: “Adults, especially, often can’t access reasonable adjustments in the workplace, or help and support without a diagnosis.

Support people

“There’s no availability for things like CBT and coaching. They are mentioned in the NICE guidelines as a way to support people with ADHD, but they can’t get access to that unless they’ve got this diagnosis. “(Being diagnosed can be) very validating for somebody to understand why they’ve struggled, or why they’re struggling. Is it just me, or is it something else?” Watch Dr Shire’s BBC News interview again on the DAUK Instagram. In an interview with LBC, Dr Shire stressed the need to avoid stigmatising people who seek help for their mental health. She said: “Life is difficult at the moment.

Struggling

“If you’re struggling to find work, you can’t afford food, then you’re not going to feel great about things. “I think it’s about looking at what support is available.” Dr Shire highlighted the lack of timely access to talking therapies, with long waits leaving many people getting worse before treatment begins. In response to a question about people not working because of their mental health, she said that, if someone was able to, then working could be helpful in recovery from any health condition.

Bigger picture

She added ‘people needed to be supported to work’, including being allowed time off to attend medical and therapy appointments. “We need to look at the bigger picture,” she said. “Why are people coming forward and how can we help them?” Listen again to her LBC interview on the DAUK Instagram. The most recent NHS survey on mental health showed more people have common mental health conditions now, with a 45% increase since 1993. It found that and 20% of NHS activity is related to mental health.

Mental health funding

However, mental health services only received 8.7% of the NHS budget in 2024/25. This is set to fall in 2025/26. Dr Shire said: “Without adequate funding and support for people, it’s hard to see how we can expect people to overcome their mental health conditions.” All of our committee members are volunteers. They speak to the media and campaign on the issues facing doctors in their own time. Please support their work by joining DAUK or donating to our GoFundMe.

Two directors are due to step down at a hospital that asked staff for fingerprints and handwriting samples as it hunted a whistleblower.

An inquiry into West Suffolk Hospital’s handling of the affair is due to report imminently.

Nick Jenkins will leave his role as medical director, while chief operating officer Helen Beck is to retire.

The NHS trust that runs the hospital in Bury St Edmunds thanked both of them for their “dedication and leadership”.

In a letter to staff, seen by the BBC, West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust’s chief executive Dr Stephen Dunn made the announcement, but made no reference to the independent inquiry.

Trust management were accused of carrying out a “witch-hunt” after staff were asked for fingerprints and handwriting samples in an attempt to find the author of a letter that was sent to the husband of a deceased patient.

An inquest was told about a series of errors in the treatment of Susan Warby, who died five weeks after bowel surgery in August 2018.

The 57-year-old was given glucose instead of saline fluid through an arterial line in one operation, suffered a punctured lung during another and a week later contracted a fungal infection.

Two months later, her husband Jon received the anonymous letter that highlighted concerns about her treatment and suggested questions about the role of a particular doctor should be raised.

The hospital trust spent more than £2,000 in 2019 commissioning fingerprint and handwriting experts in an effort to identify the author. 

The Doctors’ Association described the trust’s actions as a “witch hunt” and said they highlighted a “toxic culture”.

The hospital, which serves constituents of Health Secretary Matt Hancock, later apologised to the staff involved.

Christine Outram MBE was commissioned by NHS Improvement to carry out an independent review into the events arising from the letter and the hospital’s handling of the affair. 

It was due to be completed in April 2020, but it has yet to be published.

Read the article in full here

Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden, an intensive care registrar, says NHS staff are facing “devastating” abuse online and at protests.

She thinks it’s driven by coronavirus sceptics and anti-lockdown activists.

In response Dr Batt-Rawden, who is president of the Doctors’ Association UK, started her own campaign for people to post blue hearts on social media to show their support for health workers.

Watch the video on the BBC News site: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-london-55616041

Doctors and nurses need protection from prosecution over Covid-19 treatment decisions made under the pressures of the pandemic, medical bodies have said.

Groups including the British Medical Association have written to ministers saying medical workers fear they could be at risk of unlawful killing charges.

It comes as the UK’s chief medical officers said the NHS could be overwhelmed in weeks.

The government said staff should not have to fear legal action.

The letter from the health organisations points out that the prime minister warned in November that the NHS being overwhelmed would be a “medical and moral disaster”, where “doctors and nurses could be forced to choose which patients to treat, who would live and who would die”.

It said: “With the chief medical officers now determining that there is a material risk of the NHS being overwhelmed within weeks, our members are worried that not only do they face being put in this position but also that they could subsequently be vulnerable to a criminal investigation by the police.”

Co-ordinated by the Medical Protection Society (MPS), the letter was signed by the British Medical Association, the Doctors’ Association UK, the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin and Medical Defence Shield.

It calls for emergency legislation to protect doctors and nurses from “inappropriate” legal action when dealing with circumstances outside their control.

Existing guidance for doctors and nurses on when to administer or withdraw treatment does not give legal protection, the letter says.

It also says the guidance does not consider the circumstances of the pandemic where demand for healthcare may outstrip supply.

“The first concern of a doctor is their patients and providing the highest standard of care at all times,” the medical bodies said.

“We do not believe it is right that healthcare professionals should suffer from the moral injury and long-term psychological damage that could result from having to make decisions on how limited resources are allocated, while at the same time being left vulnerable to the risk of prosecution for unlawful killing.”

The medical organisations said no healthcare professional should be “above the law” and that the emergency legislation should only apply to decisions made “in good faith” and “in circumstances beyond their control and in compliance with relevant guidance”.

They said the change in the law should be temporary and should apply retrospectively from the start of the pandemic.

Medical staff in the NHS are protected financially from clinical negligence claims by indemnity schemes where the state pays the costs of claims.

But if someone dies as a result of a lack of treatment, doctors and nurses fear prosecutors could bring charges such as gross negligence manslaughter, which can carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Earlier this month, a survey by the MPS of 2,420 of its members found that 61% were concerned about facing an investigation following a decision made in a high-pressure situation.

About 36% were concerned about being investigated for a decision to withdraw or withhold life-prolonging treatment due to pressure on resources during the pandemic.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Dedicated frontline NHS staff should be able to focus on treating patients and saving lives during the pandemic without fear of legal action.”

NHS staff have been told that existing indemnity arrangements will continue and will cover “the vast majority of liabilities”, the spokesman said.

Read the article here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55689388

DAUK’s Dr Jenny Vaughan appeared on BBC South East News, speaking about the challenging conditions healthcare staff are working under in the South East:

We’re hearing from our members who are working [in hospitals in the South East] that, you know, the word ‘war zone’ comes to mind. They are running out of beds. [Staff] are making every available space that they can to look after patients with the Covid-19 virus. ICU beds are under critical pressure.”

Dr Jenny Vaughan, DAUK Vice-Chair

Dr Jenny Vaughan, law and policy lead at campaigning organisation Doctors’ Association UK, said their concerns “weren’t listened to properly”.

“These are people who had tried the right channels. These are people genuinely raising concerns who went to the people who should have listened to them and felt either they couldn’t raise a concern or they weren’t listened to.

“If you have a transparent, open culture of reporting and people feel free that they can speak up about safety concerns, it saves lives”.

Susan Warby, 57, died at the West Suffolk Hospital on 30 August, 2018.

During an inquest into her death, it was heard she had been given glucose instead of saline via an arterial line.

The hospital reportedly asked doctors for fingerprints and handwriting samples to identify the whistleblower.

The Doctors’ Association described the attempt by the hospital to find the letter writer as a “witch hunt”.

Jon Warby said he received the letter two months after his wife’s death.

He said he was “quite surprised” by the lengths the hospital reportedly went to to find its author.

The inquest in Ipswich heard both Suffolk Police and the hospital launched investigations into the letter at the request of the coroner.

The hospital said an investigation into the nature of Mrs Warby’s care was already under way by the time the letter was sent.

Suffolk’s senior coroner Nigel Parsley said Mrs Warby’s family acknowledged her death was the “progression of a naturally occurring disease” but wanted to know if “errors may have had a contributory effect”.

‘Deep-seated toxic culture’

It was heard Mrs Warby also suffered a punctured lung during an operation to replace the arterial line.

Her cause of death was recorded as multi-organ failure, with contributory causes including septicaemia, pneumonia and perforated diverticular disease, affecting the bowel.

The inquest into mother-of-two’s death was adjourned so an independent medical witness can be brought in at the family’s request.

The Doctors’ Association said it was approached by medics who said the hospital had demanded both fingerprints and samples of handwriting.

It said clinicians claimed they were told if they refused that would be evidence of guilt.

“The witch hunt for a whistleblower following the tragic death of Mrs Warby highlights a deep-seated toxic culture at West Suffolk Hospital,” it said.

The hospital said it would not comment until after the inquest had concluded.