Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust boss Sir James Mackey has warned that the health service has a "very tired and very fatigued workforce" and that the psychological impact of continuous pressure on staff is telling.
Sir James, speaking on the Voices of Care podcast produced by Newcross Healthcare spoke about how the wider NHS workforce is - in many cases - struggling to cope. He said the mood of staff varied "team to team, department to department".
But he added: "The NHS has actually grown the workforce quite substantially last year as well. 9% nationally compared to pre-Covid times, but the workforce are under a huge amount of pressure and complexity. At this stage that we're at with Covid, actually it's very tired workforce and it's a very fatigued workforce.
"I think a big problem really at the minute is actually that kind of psychological mood of it all. The feeling that we're under relentless pressure, it's never ending and when are people actually going to see some light at the end of the tunnel?"
Sir James, who heads up the national elective recovery programme aimed at bringing down waiting lists for NHS England along with his role as chief executive at Northumbria Healthcare, added that a big focus at the trust had been on boosting staff wellbeing. His comments come with strike action slated for mid December among nurses, and with wider winter pressures adding to the strain on the NHS.
He said: "Every organisation I've come across in the NHS has put a huge amount of effort into health and wellbeing and made sure people have mechanisms so [they] can sit down together and talk and unpack what's going on. There's rest space, psychological support where that's necessary, access to counselling if necessary - all of those things."
Specifically at Northumbria, Sir James also referenced the Trust’s recently reopened health and wellbeing centre which includes a gym and café. He also highlighted how as a large local employer, the NHS felt a responsibility to communities for wider public health by supporting staff - especially with a recession coming.
He added: "This is the time to really take action. In parts of our population, roughly 60% of the population work in public service and the NHS is by far the biggest part of that context. So we have a big responsibility with our local society."
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