{"id":14549,"date":"2018-02-02T06:00:23","date_gmt":"2018-02-02T06:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=14549"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:59:10","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:59:10","slug":"we-breakwe-burnout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=14549","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098We break\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6we burnout\u00e2\u20ac\u2122"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

My name is Debbie Wilkinson and I have been an NHS paramedic in Leeds for 27 years. I once worked out that means I have attended 999 calls at over 35,000 addresses!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a job I love and am very proud to do and I know that both me personally and my profession are truly respected and trusted by the general public. The NHS is a family and as a paramedic I work closely with my colleagues here \u00e2\u20ac\u201c doctors, nurses and all manner of hospital staff, care teams and colleagues in the community.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pride in our profession links us all together but also in today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s NHS, so do feelings of frustration, helplessness and guilt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We attend a 999 call \u00e2\u20ac\u201c on blue lights and sirens \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which is stressful enough.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We get to our destination and usually the first thing we are greeted with is \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been waiting hours for an ambulance.<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 We are literally the front line and as much as people tell us that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwe know it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not your fault<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we feel incredibly guilty and have to bear the brunt of their frustration. There just simply aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough of us.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Big responsibility <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yet, the relief on people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s faces when we do turn up \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is palpable and that is a big responsibility. They put their lives and that of their family members literally in our hands and they all tell us \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u015byou\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not paid enough for what you do<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The elderly patient lying on the floor for hours because they aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a high priority call \u00e2\u20ac\u201c yet they may have a fractured hip, have had a stroke or are just unable to get up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

However, we will now have to take them to A&E even if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re uninjured because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098long lie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em>. We experiment with falls teams \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to respond to these patients and get them up off the floor safely and quickly \u00e2\u20ac\u201c so we can leave them at home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But it all costs money \u00e2\u20ac\u201c money which Trusts don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have or that would have to be diverted from somewhere else.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We also know we can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t leave these patients at home \u00e2\u20ac\u201c because social care isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t in place to support them \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they may fall again and we will be called again \u00e2\u20ac\u201c so we take them to A&E.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When we get there, our hearts sink as we see the amount of patients waiting on the corridors with helpless staff wondering where on earth they are going to put everyone? Again \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we feel guilty \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to the staff who are almost at wit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s end they are so full and to the patients who will now have to wait hours to be seen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Also a large volume of our work are mental health patients \u00e2\u20ac\u201c who usually don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want, or need to go to hospital. We try to link into referral pathways \u00e2\u20ac\u201c crisis teams, care lines and street teams but mental health teams too have been subjected to cutbacks, so we may still end up taking them to A&E. Yet again \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we feel guilty.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We used to hear horror stories from colleagues in other services of waiting anywhere up to 12 hours to hand over a patient. They were few and far between \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but are now the norm.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While we wait to hand over our patients and transfer them off our stretchers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c our radios constantly screech with the control room asking if anyone is available to clear to attend a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Red\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 call. We know at least one person is in dire need of an ambulance and we can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go \u00e2\u20ac\u201c because the hospital that is full to bursting can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take our patient from us\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.and we feel guilty \u00e2\u20ac\u201c again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Exhausted <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The guilt and frustration are exhausting. I used to go home at the end of my shift \u00e2\u20ac\u201c feeling like I had helped every patient. I now go home and worry that at least half of them may come to harm\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6or worse \u00e2\u20ac\u201c because funding cuts mean I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t got them the help they need.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, then winter comes along. What happens when services are already overrun and hospitals at saturation point \u00e2\u20ac\u201c when activity increases even more? We try to do more with less \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we work ourselves to breaking point to look after patients that are genuinely poorly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We feel guilty and frustrated and we break\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6we burnout and then we feel guilty that we aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t at work as we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had to go sick. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve just gone through that myself. Every time I heard a siren, I got upset \u00e2\u20ac\u201c because I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t there helping my colleagues and helping patients \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but yet I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be at work? If I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not on my game \u00e2\u20ac\u201c people die.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We have just lived through seven years of pay restraint. I live alone and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m struggling financially. I had to go back to work \u00e2\u20ac\u201c because if I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not working at least one day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s overtime a week \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t manage. We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect a fortune \u00e2\u20ac\u201c just a decent living wage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no good this government telling us they value us at tragic times when atrocities occur but then we still won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give you a decent pay rise. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m afraid hypocrisy doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pay my mortgage!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c our beloved NHS has its 70th<\/sup> birthday. It is as cherished and successful as it always has been \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but this government are trying to break it and sell it off to the highest bidder.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Only a Labour Government can save our precious NHS and I for one \u00e2\u20ac\u201c am willing to fight to preserve it!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is an extended version of the speech Debbie Wilkinson made to the NHS In Crisis rally \u00e2\u20ac\u201cJanuary 25. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My name is Debbie Wilkinson and I have been an NHS paramedic in Leeds for 27 years. I once worked out that means I have attended 999 calls at over 35,000 addresses!   It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a job I love and am very proud to do and I know that both me personally and my profession are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[161,29,75,63,44],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14549"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14549"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14550,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14549\/revisions\/14550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}