ArticleBMJ open2021
Beyond PPE: a mixed qualitative-quantitative study capturing the wider issues affecting doctors' well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Healthcare staff perceptions of the hospital food environment: a narrative systematic review.Public health nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Strengthening Pandemic Preparedness: A Thematic Analysis of Frontline Healthcare Workers' Perspectives During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Aotearoa New Zealand: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Final costs: The emotional impact of providing end-of-life care.Future healthcare journal · 2026Article
- Complicity in Moral Injury: A Study of Moral Phenomena in Healthcare Work Settings.Journal of healthcare leadership · 2026Article
- Experiences of U.S. frontline physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Article
- Conceptualising wellbeing among health-care workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.Health (London, England : 1997) · 2025Article
- Surge capacity and practice management challenges of Canadian family physicians during COVID-19: a qualitative study.Human resources for health · 2025Article
- "Are you OK doctor?" An expanded health belief model exploration of doctors' experiences and perspectives of on-shift health behaviour.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2024Article
- In the Shadow of the Pandemic: Examining Therapists' Perceptions of Work-Related Stress in the Late Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Workplace support for physicians during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Did it affect burnout?BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Perceptions of healthcare professionals' psychological wellbeing at work and the link to patients' experiences of care: A scoping review.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2023Article
- The pandemic's unseen wounds: COVID-19's profound effects on mental health.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2023Review
- Multidimensional stressors and protective factors shaping physicians' work environments and work-related well-being in two large US cities during COVID-19.American journal of industrial medicine · 2023Article
- Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on health care workers (HCWs) in Sindh Province of Pakistan.Health research policy and systems · 2023Article
- Empathy and Occupational Health and Well-Being in Ecuadorian Physicians Working with COVID-19 Patients: A Mixed-Method Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The Role of Conspiracy Theories, Perceived Risk, and Trust in Science on COVID-19 Vaccination Decisiveness: Evidence from Cyprus.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on rheumatology trainees: an online survey.Rheumatology international · 2023Observational
- Health and social care workers experiences of coping while working in the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic: One year on.PloS one · 2023Article
- Effects of work-family conflict on turnover intention among primary medical staff in Huaihai Economic Zone: a mediation model through burnout.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- "Data makes the story come to life:" understanding the ethical and legal implications of Big Data research involving ethnic minority healthcare workers in the United Kingdom-a qualitative study.BMC medical ethics · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to the medical workforce. This has put them at increased risk of burnout at a time when levels are already worryingly high in the profession, with recent studies consistently showing that around half of doctors meet the validated criteria for burnout.
objectivesTo understand the wider factors influencing and impacting upon hospital doctors' well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in England.
designCross-sectional survey and mixed quantitative-qualitative analysis.
settingAcute National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust in England.
participantsAn online survey was circulated in early June 2020 to all 449 doctors employed by the Trust. 242 doctors completed the survey (54% response rate). PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Questions assessed occupational details, self-reported changes in physical and mental health, satisfaction with working hours and patterns, availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), medication and facilities, communication and sought to identify areas seen as having a significant effect on doctors' well-being.
results96% of respondents requiring PPE were able to access it. Nearly half of the respondents felt that their mental health had deteriorated since the start of the pandemic. Over a third stated that their physical health had also declined. Issues identified as having a negative impact on doctors included increased workload, redeployment, loss of autonomy, personal issues affecting family members, anxiety around recovery plans, inadequate access to changing and storage facilities and to rest areas that allow for social distancing. Doctors appreciated access to 'calm rooms' that were made available for staff, access to clinical psychology support, free drinks and free car parking on site.
conclusionThe emerging themes are suggestive of increased burnout risk among doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic and encompass factors well beyond shortage of PPE. Small organisational initiatives and the implementation of changes suggested by survey respondents can have a positive impact on doctors' well-being.
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Registered trials
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