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Rebecca Mack ☕'s avatar

Thanks so much for this Miriam.. for caring for the carers. I often thought my job as a midwife was to care for the mother and attend to her needs, so she may feel confident and able (with support) to care for her baby. I think the same is true about NHS staff. If we are ‘cared’ for then we feel empowered to care for our patients… it’s a win/win.

Unfortunately the model appears to be the opposite… burnout and replace…which comes at a huge emotional and financial cost to the individuals and the system. Thanks for your work in tackling this ongoing issue.

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Miriam Fine's avatar

Thanks so much for your thoughts Rebecca! Yes I totally agree. I think it's to do with (the system) failing to look at things in a whole-system way (like the way you looked at the mothers and babies you looked after as whole units as well as individuals, whose needs impacted each other). What I mean is, it feels as if problems are not yet being looked at in a way that tries to understand the whole context and the root causes of things. So sometimes the solutions proposed are like sticking plasters. And I suppose sometimes that means a sticking plaster over an infected wound (sorry for the unpleasant analogy!), or over a wound that keeps being injured over and over again. But I suppose at the same time the system is a big complicated beast and there are tons of people trying to create meaningful change as well.

This culture of failing to 'see' the workers/carers, but just seeing patient care as an outcome, disembodied from the wellbeing of staff, is something I hear about in other sectors as well (like teaching), and felt frustrated by when working in higher education as well.

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Neil's avatar

As an NHS clinician straddling the journey of non clinical work in the NHS this article provides valuable insights and strategies that can enhance our understanding of patient care, improve teamwork, and optimize resource management within the NHS(but also other environments) ultimately leading to better health outcomes for not only patients, colleagues and professionals. Thanks! Also love the beautiful images!!

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Miriam Fine's avatar

Thanks so much Neil! It's so encouraging to hear your thoughts and great to hear that it resonates ❤️

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