Two thirds of healthcare workers believe a ‘twindemic’ of rising COVID-19 and flu cases poses a critical risk to the healthcare system.
New research carried out by healthcare platform Florence, in which around 500 health and social care workers were polled, found that two thirds of workers (63 per cent) believe quality of care will be impacted as a result of the twindemic. Three fifths (61 per cent) say essential services will be overloaded, while over half (56 per cent) are concerned the vulnerable will not be able to access the care they need.
Most worryingly, a quarter (23.8 per cent) of nurses and healthcare assistants think the healthcare system will collapse as a result of the increased pressure, while over half (57 per cent) of healthcare workers think the twindemic will lead to longer wait times, and two in five (42 per cent) believe that there is a greater risk of bed blocking.
Dr. Charles Armitage, CEO and founder of Florence, said: “The NHS and social care sector is already under intolerable pressure, the likes of which we have never experienced before. As we head deeper into the winter months, the sector will be hit even harder by the rise in COVID-19 and flu cases. Quite simply, the NHS is at breaking point.
“More needs to be done to equip frontline workers with the support they need to function to the best of their ability. The scale of the worldwide healthcare staff shortages is one of the greatest threats to health globally. For the public, inadequate numbers of staff is a risk to both access to care and quality of care. For staff, it leads to stress, burnout and a lack of support for the existing workforce who are imperative to society. Our research suggests that our healthcare workers are losing faith in the government but only systematic reform can fix the broken care staffing model for good.”
