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Cape Times reports that a Cape Town doctor has spoken out about the burnout he suffered while working in a public hospital that treats 4,500 patients a month and handles as many as 80 acute trauma cases a day in one of the city’s notorious gang-infested areas.
The physician highlighted his experience in the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) news bulletin. He was one of four consultant physicians working in the hospital’s emergency section before his burnout forced him to leave. He said it was the chaos he experienced daily - and not the stress of dealing with so many acute trauma cases - that made him feel like giving up. “I would get home to my wife and say ‘I’ve achieved nothing today’, even though I’d been working flat out,” said thedoctor. Unable to cope and experiencing an overwhelming sense of futility when his burnout crisis began, he had felt a compulsion to prove himself. “I tried harder. Got in earlier, worked late. It made no difference and in the end I decided to leave the hospital,” the doctor stated. International Occupational Medicine Society Collaborative (IOMSC) co-chairperson Dr Richard Heron said burnout was not just linked to the health of the doctor, but affected the safety of the patient. Common drivers of burnout included excessive workload and high patient expectations, coupled with an increased number of patients with chronic diseases, said Heron.
- Read the full original of the above report by Raphael Wolf at Cape Times
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