Training & Support
As the country’s health system is being tested as never before by Coronavirus, so is the resilience and wellbeing of the doctors and medical staff who keep it going.
Colleagues providing emergency care to increasing numbers of patients infected by Covid-19 are under tremendous physical and mental pressure, and maintaining the good mental health of doctors and other care staff is therefore crucial. A necessary first step in achieving that objective is being able to identify and measure the impact Coronavirus is having on medical practitioners’ wellbeing.
To that end, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) will begin surveying doctors and anaesthetists in emergency and intensive care to monitor their anxiety and stress levels. The Covid-19 Emergency Response Assessment study (CERA) will use GL Assessment’s General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) to ask doctors about their psychological health on three occasions: now, at the peak of the Coronavirus outbreak, and three months after the peak.
Researchers hope this study, which is led by the Trainee Emergency Research Network (TERN) in association with the Paediatric Emergency Research in the UK and Ireland (PERUKI) and Research and Audit Federation of Trainees (RAFT), will not only aid health professionals now but also help inform support for any future medical crisis.
Given the current circumstances and the importance of the project, GL Assessment provided GHQ at no cost.
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