Throughout the Covid-19 crisis, nursing staff have been burdened with new challenges, unprecedented numbers of hospital admissions and chronic workloads. Three years on, we are looking at a completely reformed NHS, which despite ongoing trials and tribulations, continues to demonstrate strength and resilience. Today, we wanted to celebrate the healthcare sector and discuss the lessons learned from the Covid-19 crisis which have helped shape current practice. We’ll also look at the future implications for our NHS and what needs to be done to truly implement change.
Key learnings
Excessive workload isn’t helping anyone - Excessive workload has always been a problem within the NHS, but Covid-19 starkly exposed the extent to which our nurses and doctors are overworked and under immense amounts of pressure. Since emerging from the depths of the pandemic, we have seen NHS and social care organisations across the UK prioritise the wellbeing of their staff and create more supportive work environments (e.g. places to go when feeling overwhelmed and opportunities to take more breaks).
Communication is crucial - From ensuring that staff can easily get in touch with one another (e.g. via a WhatsApp group), to hiring more multilingual staff to remove language barriers between healthcare professionals and patients, many hospitals realised that communication needs to be a priority in healthcare settings.
Communication is crucial - During the pandemic, NHS staff took on greater responsibility and had to take initiative on many an occasion. As a result, we saw many individuals lead by example to implement positive change. This helped us learn that hierarchical and bureaucratic constraints are not always necessary and we should enable our nurses and doctors to have professional autonomy.
Improved virtual services are needed - It quickly became apparent that virtual care services and clinics are instrumental in providing the best care to patients. Plus, this method offers increased flexibility for staff, including in some cases the option to work from home.
What’s next?
High quality across all levels
Leaders need to identify areas of improvement when it comes to patient care and staff care. Creating safe and supportive work environments for healthcare professionals will help boost retention rates, while simultaneously improving the level of care being provided to patients.
Reduction of health inequality
Covid-19 cast light on the deep-rooted health inequalities that exist across our healthcare system in the UK. In particular, it flagged the disproportionate risk factor facing ethnic minority communities who were found to be more likely to contract the respiratory virus. To truly implement change, the NHS needs to work closely with the government to create a strategy that is achievable and effective. It should address issues including access to care, supporting local economies, and improving the public’s health.
A closer focus on recruitment
Staffing shortages across the NHS were already in full force long before we started Googling banana bread recipes and was unfortunately only worsened by the pandemic. However, as we continue on the road to recovery, leaders in the healthcare space are taking steps to improve recruitment and retention.
MCM Medical also comes in handy here! If you need a hand-sourcing nursing staff then give our dedicated consultants a bell on 0203 929 4010 and we’ll be in touch.
Remember, we are an approved supplier on the NHS Workforce Alliance and can help trusts overcome the challenges of clinical and healthcare staffing.
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