Pressures on doctors are so big - they're burning out, and it's affecting patients

Doctors are burning out, because of the huge pressure on the NHS, and it is affecting the quality of care they are able to deliver.

A study by experts at the University of Manchester has found doctors with burnout are twice as likely to make mistakes, such as incorrect diagnoses or wrong prescriptions.

A recent report found harmful medical errors occur once in every 20 patients.

Dr Maria Panagioti, from the University of Manchester, says burnout could also be impacting patient satisfaction.

The study found patient satisfaction is three times more likely to be lower when doctors are phsyically, emotionally and mentally exhausted.

Existing research shows that thought it has been traditionally considered high, public satisfaction with the NHS has dropped from 63% in 2016 to 57% in 2017.

Junior doctors in particular are susceptible to burnout and increases the chances of a mistake by 3.5 times.

Dr Maria Panagioti said:

"The analysis provides a snapshot of what happens to patients when their doctors are burnt out.

"We show conclusively that the provision of safe, high quality patient care is severely compromised when doctors are physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted.

"Clearly this is not the fault of doctors. It's caused by a combination of factors including high workloads, the way teams work together and the absence of measures to improve wellbeing.

"But it's also about a performance culture, which in recent years has become more prevalent in the medical profession.

"Doctors are increasingly being asked to be superhuman, when they are not. They need care and attention that anyone would need when under such enormous pressure and that is just not happening."