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Sarah Green, Liberal Democrat MP for Chesham and Amersham, has today highlighted that a majority of doctors have felt overwhelmed in recent weeks, with a fifth of those surveyed experiencing this feeling daily.
Addressing the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in the House of Commons today, Green said:
‘Last week the Royal College of Physicians reported that 1 in 5 doctors felt overwhelmed almost every day. One doctor in my constituency told me that every single member of staff at their surgery was either receiving counselling, on antidepressants, or signed off work with stress. This was compounded by what they perceived as ‘GP bashing’ in the media. With this in mind can I ask the Secretary of State what steps his department is taking to protect the mental health of GPs and NHS workers.’
Secretary of State Sajid Javid responded:
‘Healthcare workers, whether GPs or others have been under significant pressure over the last two years especially and of course that is applied to GPs. The support that we’ve provided through the Winter Access Fund is there, the £250 million is there to support GP surgeries across the country including with workforce.’
Later, Green commented:
‘Recent studies revealing the mental toll of this crisis on doctors only confirm what I have witnessed in GP surgeries in my constituency. Doctors are telling me they are overworked and overtired after taking on extra hours to deal with what has been described to me as a ‘Tsunami of cases’. The Government must ensure these key workers are given all the support they need.’