NHS staff feel like Covid cannon fodder, not heroes, survey finds

The research includes the views of more than 1,300 doctors in the UK and Ireland who have been responding to the pandemic since early 2020

Doctors treating patients with Covid-19 said they felt like they were seen as "cannon fodder" rather than as heroes.

A study has revealed the strain that Covid-19 is placing on the physical and mental health of NHS workers.

It was carried out by researchers from the Universities of Bath and Bristol, UWE Bristol and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.

Some of the stories from an overwhelmed system were "truly devastating," Dr Jo Daniels of the University of Bath said.

"We are seeing increasing levels of staff attrition, absenteeism, poor psychological health, and loss of life, yet frontline doctors are expected to just carry on," she added.

The study highlighted concerns over insufficient places to rest, lack of healthy food to eat and relentless shift patterns

The study identified themes of feeling exposed and unprotected; the relentlessness of the virus; the "ugly truth" of the front line; and an overwhelmed system.

"I feel, at times, that I am considered totally expendable and that, if I die or become ill, not only will it have been preventable with political will, I will simply be an inconvenient statistic.

"I'm not a Covid hero, I'm Covid cannon fodder," said a senior doctor.

A junior doctor said workers felt alone and unsupported, and that the weekly round of applause for NHS staff "was a pointless gesture".

Dr Daniels described the results as "truly shocking".

"Some of the stories frontline workers told us about for this research are truly devastating; last moments spent trying to set up an iPad in time for a young mother to say goodbye to her children... family members watching loved ones die remotely via video-link.

"Despite the popular media narrative of healthcare workers being our Covid-19 heroes, many simply do not feel that way in terms of how they are being supported," she said.