Coronavirus: Yorkshire GPs' pandemic 'burnout' warning

Dr Karen Forshaw said workload would increase "exponentially" as the country emerges from the pandemic

Rising numbers of health professionals face "burnout" during the Covid-19 pandemic, GPs in Yorkshire have warned.

It comes as a Health and Social Care Select Committee is held to look at the pressure medical staff are under.

Doncaster GP Dr Karen Forshaw said the workload would increase "exponentially" as more people were vaccinated and GP services began to return to normal.

Dr Katie Houston, a GP in Harrogate, said she had seen a "huge increase" in doctors struggling with anxiety.

The North Yorkshire medic, who appraises fellow GPs and works as a mentor to trainees, said this was a result of the mounting pressures in the NHS.

"Covid has had a huge impact and while it has brought some momentum for helpful change, it has been at pace and hard to process," she said.

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Dr Forshaw said the level of pressure was "physical".

"There are high levels of burnout in healthcare professionals as a whole," she said.

Professor Jeremy Dawson, from Sheffield University, spoke at the Health and Social Care Select Committee

"As we go forward with the vaccination programme and more people are vaccinated, I think people will want to start to come back to normal much more.

"On top of that, we have got all of the stuff we stopped doing in the first lockdown, that we are trying to catch up on now. The workload will almost be exponential."

Professor Jeremy Dawson, professor of health management at Sheffield University, spoke to MPs at the Select Committee on Tuesday,

He said: "The problem I see at the moment is that we are relying on the goodwill and the going the extra mile-and-a-half of the staff, which is simply unsustainable."

Dr Daniele Bryden, of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM), said she was concerned about intensive care staff who had been working "full pelt" since March.

She said: "Not only are they very tired - many have had Covid themselves, or have been isolating. I think the psychological impact of what they are doing is considerable for many of them."

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said the UK is at the "worst point" of the pandemic, with the new variant of Covid-19 putting the NHS under "significant pressure".

Speaking yesterday, Mr Hancock urged people to "do their bit" to help the NHS and to follow government advice.