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Coronavirus: Healthcare workers and burnout

Three doctors talk about working under pressure during the pandemic

Dr Solelwa Sifumba in Johannesburg, South Africa, recently left the profession after experiencing such chronic anxiety that it even led to her considering taking her own life. She is joined by two fellow doctors in the UK, as they discuss burnout and the mental health challenges of working in constant crisis mode since the pandemic began. They tell host Nuala McGovern about the difficulty in their profession to say they are not ok.

We also talk to two therapists in the United States and UK. They offer their professional view of the situation and discuss potential solutions; and they explain how the challenges for healthcare workers, and doctors, in particular, began long before the arrival of the pandemic.

(Photo: Doctors wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) walk after examining patients inside a Covid-19 care centre and isolation ward facility near a Hospital in New Delhi, India, 10 May 2021 Credit: Idrees Mohammed/EPA)

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23 minutes

Last on

Sun 16 May 2021 17:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 15 May 2021 08:06GMT
  • Sat 15 May 2021 23:06GMT
  • Sun 16 May 2021 00:06GMT
  • Sun 16 May 2021 17:06GMT