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Ben Caesar is a Consultant T&O Surgeon based in Brighton with an interest in major trauma and sports injuries, who joined the Army at the age of 39 as a reservist just as he became a consultant; he changed to a regular commission three years later. Over the past nine years, he has deployed on three operational tours and is currently posted to 16 Medical Regiment in Colchester. He has set up and leads a clinic for Service Personnel and Veterans (the Chavasse Clinic) and has an interest in burnout and wellbeing in healthcare.
BOA Burnout and Wellbeing Survey Infographic and Results: time for a culture change? Ben Caesar, Christopher Jukes, James Nutt, Callum Counihan, William Butler-Manuel and Maryam Ahmed In early 2021, the BOA Burnout and Wellbeing Survey was launched. It was run through the BOA by a team based at the Trauma and Orthopaedic Department in Brighton, who have processed and analysed the 1,298 responses, approximately 25% of the BOA membership. The problem?
Christopher Jukes is an ST7 Orthopaedic Registrar in Brighton. Currently only âat riskâ of burnout.
James Nutt is an ST8 Orthopaedic Registrar at Brighton and Sussex University Hospital.
20 | JTO | Volume 09 | Issue 02 | June 2021 | boa.ac.uk
Burnout has been defined as âa state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion that results from long-term involvement in work situations that are emotionally demanding1. Since Freudenberger defined burnout in 1974, the appreciation and awareness of burnout in doctors has been well established2-4. However, with the arrival of COVID-19 and the added stresses at work and home, burnout and wellbeing have been increasingly discussed. In this journal in December 2020, the issue of the pandemic of burnout was raised5. High levels of burnout have been shown to increase medical errors6-8, reduce job satisfaction9-11 and push doctors in to early retirement12-14. Burnout also impacts doctorsâ general wellbeing with higher rates of depression15,16 alcoholism17 and suicidal ideation18,19. Addressing health and wellbeing in Trauma and Orthopaedics as a specialty is going to be essential in the upcoming return to routine elective surgery as the estimate of 1.4 million hip and knee replacements on waiting lists within the NHS was based on estimations to November 202020. The upcoming drive to alleviate the
elective orthopaedic backlog will potentially take a heavy toll on a specialty which is already battling with high levels of burnout. The mental health challenges faced by healthcare workers as a result of the current coronavirus pandemic highlighted in the British Medical Journal21 made the clear distinction that many will face issues of moral injury. Moral injury is a term that describes the distress experienced when circumstances clash with oneâs moral or ethical code; although not a mental health illness, it may lead to the development of negative thoughts that in turn can contribute to the development of mental difficulties such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicidal ideation. It also matches to one of Maslachâs six drivers of burnout, values mismatch22. Pair a highpressure job with a population that is unlikely to seek support or treatment in times of difficulty, such as surgeons, then the conditions are ripe for burnout to ensue23. Burnout has consequences such as reduced emotional and physical wellbeing, absenteeism, and personnel turnover. Naturally this can have substantial costs not just for individuals, but for organisations both short and long term. It is
