More action to support doctors’ mental health

 
24 November 2017                
 
Dr Ayman Shenouda
 
Who’s looking after the doctor?
 
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt made a commitment in May to reduce suicide and improve mental health among doctors. This commitment came following the tragic loss of NSW junior doctor Dr Chloe Abbott with Minister Hunt admitting that ‘too often the care is not there for the carers’.[1]
 
We’re now starting to see some action around this issue. The progress on the mandatory reporting issue for one. It is clear that medical professionals need to seek mental health treatment without fear of retribution. Fixing the mandatory reporting laws is the first key step in supporting doctor health.
 
A nationally consistent proposal was to be considered this month by COAG Health Council. Minister Hunt has since made assurances following this meeting that work is now being progressed towards a standard by the end of the year. More discussion through COAG will follow to secure agreement but we’re getting closer.[2]
 
2013 beyondblue study
 
As in the general population, depression doesn’t discriminate and this was made evidently clear through work led by beyondblue. Beyondblue’s National Mental Health Survey of Doctors and Medical Students revealed for the first time the true extent of the problem. This major study, undertaken in 2013, surveyed more than 12,000 doctors and around 1,900 medical students. [3]
 
The stats that emerged from this were alarming. It confirmed high general and specific levels of distress, and high levels of burnout among doctors and medical students. Substantially higher rates of psychological distress and suicide attempts were found than in the general community. Around 10% of doctors reported suicidal ideation in the previous year and one in four reported suicidal thoughts prior to the previous year. [4]
 
The study also confirmed that medical students and young or female doctors were most at risk and identified significant levels of stigma towards people with mental health problems. Not surprisingly some experienced bullying and racism as well. [5]
 
This is just the start
 
Despite this major study confirming what we already knew about higher rates of psychological distress among medical students and doctors, there’s still slow policy action around this issue.
 
At the time, there were calls for urgent action to improve the mental health and save the lives of Australian doctors and medical students.[6] But progress has been slow – very slow. Four years later and we’re still working through one of the key barriers to getting help – which is mandatory reporting.
 
Minister Hunt is the first federal health minister to acknow­ledge that mental health ­issues are tormenting our sector. [7] Acknowledging the problem is a good start but there is much more to be done. And it’s not all up to government either. We all have a role here and it starts with how we look after each other as doctors. A much broader conversation now needs to occur and it will take all of us to make this happen.
 
Let’s start with taking our own advice
 
It’s clear that work-related stressors impact particularly those at the earlier learning or career stage.
 
We’d all be familiar with the risk factors in the workplace – high-intensity work, long hours, conflicting time demands with a heavy professional responsibility. For some, there is bullying and harassment in the workplace. Broader issues like those stigmatising attitudes which persist despite us coming so far in terms of destigmatising mental health issues in the general community need attention.
 
The advice we’d offer to our patients around the importance of maintaining work-life balance to counter these issues should also apply to us. The work we’ve all done to destigmatise mental health issues in the community and the shifts achieved here need to be reflected in our own workplaces too.
 
In achieving a better balance, the answer lies in ‘restoring the pleasure of work – the satisfaction inherent in meaningful work done well’. Working towards ‘addressing the imbalance between excessive demand and perceived low control, and between effort and insufficient extrinsic reward’. This was the advice of Geoffrey J Riley in what remains one of the best pieces written on the subject: ‘Understanding the stresses and strains of being a doctor’ (MJA, 2004). There’s a link as it is a must-read.
 
Driving toxic culture out
 
Leadership in terms of dealing with discrimination, bullying and sexual harassment (DBSH) is required.
 
The extent and impact of workplace bullying and harassment has been exposed in recent years through the press. Reports in 2015 of sexual harassment and ‘toxic culture’ among surgeons led to a public apology to victims from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. The apology came after a survey found nearly half of all surgeons had experienced discrimination, bullying or sexual harassment.[8]
 
A Senate Inquiry into bullying and harassment in the medical profession followed. During hearings in November last year, senators were told of an ingrained culture of harassment and bullying of medical students.[9]  There were reports of endemic bullying and underreporting of abuse due to fear of consequence. Gender discrimination and ‘teaching by humiliation’ was also exposed. AMSA evidence stated that up to half of all medical students believing this mistreatment necessary and beneficial for learning.[10]
 .
Positive policy responses include those from the Victorian Government in its work to eliminate bullying and harassment in healthcare. Their strategy focuses on strengthening leadership and accountability; building the capability within the health sector to act and respond appropriately and creating a positive environment that promotes and supports both staff and patient safety.[11]
 
We need to see more strategies like these. We know that medical students, interns, IMGs and female colleagues have been identified as most at risk. These are issues we need to tackle within our own disciplines and collectively as a medical profession.
 
We also need more focus on self-care
 
Self-care has the potential not only to minimise the harm from burnout, compassion fatigue, and moral distress but to promote personal and professional well-being.[12] Developing a self-care plan is important. We all need strategies to mitigate stress and burnout and promote well-being.
 
More focus on the importance of self-care in the training to develop early those required coping skills is also important. The RACGP in the White Book, Chapter 14, The doctor and the importance of self-care provide comprehensive guidelines encouraging self-reflection, peer support and working as a team within the practice to protect against stress. It provides some practical strategies which are worth pursuing at an individual and practice level.
 
Responding as a profession
 
Mentoring is also a key part of remaining resilient as creating (and maintaining) a network of peers is so vitally important. It still is for me. I think we all need to check in with each other regularly. But what more can we do to ensure we are active as a profession to support and mentor our young doctors? Collegiality matters here. Our strength is in our membership and we need to value and nurture our next generation.
 
It is clear that we need more action on bullying and doctor burnout and mental health issues. I think part of the solution is through formalising a mentoring role in the training system. It provides that safe place to solve problems. But it is currently an add-on for many of us and hard to sustain in terms of an ongoing commitment. It usually comes down to one individual and relies on altruism (alongside so many unfunded parts of our profession). There are formalised scholarship programs but only for a select few. We are relying on a limited pool of mentors which undermines the effectiveness and funding this important role forms part of the solution towards ensuring a more resilient workforce.  
 

[1]The Daily Telegraph. Minister commits funding to address issues crippling young doctors’ mental health. 27 May 2017. Available at: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/minister-commits-funding-to-address-issues-crippling-young-doctors-mental-health/news-story/ed7f7871fef2eec8f1d3766b62200854
[2] AMA. Health COAG progresses approach on mandatory reporting. 13 November 2017. Available at: https://ama.com.au/ausmed/health-coag-progresses-approach-mandatory-reporting
[3] Beyondblue. National Mental Health Survey of Doctors and Medical Students. October 2013. Available at: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/docs/default-source/research-project-files/bl1132-report---nmhdmss-full-report_web.pdf?sfvrsn=845cb8e9_4
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Beyondblue. Media releases. Urgent action needed to improve the mental health and save the lives of Australian doctors and medical students. 7 October 2013. Available at: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/media/media-releases/media-releases/action-to-improve-the-mental-health-of-australian-doctors-and-medical-students
[7] Op. cit. The Daily Telegraph.
[8] ABC News. Culture of bullying, sexual harassment widespread among surgeons, report reveals. 10 September 2015. Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-10/damning-report-reveals-bullying-harassment-among-surgeons/6763490
[9] The Sydney Morning Herald. 'Ingrained culture' of harassment and bullying of medical students, inquiry told. 1 November 2016. Available at:  http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/ingrained-culture-of-harassment-and-bullying-of-medical-students-inquiry-told-20161101-gsfbuu.html
[10] Ibid.
[11] State Government of Victoria. Policy Summary. Eliminating bullying and harassment in healthcare. Available at:https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/about/publications/policiesandguidelines/eliminating-bullying-harassment-healthcare
[12] Sanchez-Reilly S, Morrison LJ, Carey E, et al. Caring for oneself to care for others: physicians and their self-care. The journal of supportive oncology. 2013;11(2):75-81.

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