Remember to look after yourselves, urges Dr Ranj

Health care staff across all clinical disciplines must find time in a busy day to look after themselves, delegates on the third and final day of BSAVA Virtual Congress were told.

Dr Ranj Singh, an NHS paediatrician and doctor on TV, said valuable lessons could be learned from the way human and veterinary staff responded to the challenges of COVID-19.

Similarities

In his keynote address, Dr Singh acknowledged similarities between his role in the paediatric emergency unit at a major London hospital and members of his veterinary audience – dealing with non-verbal patients, handling patients’ families and confronting external forces such as misinformation on health care issues.

However, he said all should take pride in how they had adapted to different ways of working and using new technologies. He said: “It is amazing what can be achieved when the pressure is on.”

Mental health

However, the impact of the pandemic on mental health, and the potential of some in the NHS to develop post-traumatic stress disorder, was a key theme of the speech. He said: “I worry that we will be dealing with the fall-out from this crisis for a long time.”

He advocated the provision of a mental health first aid kit for colleagues and listed strategies including group huddles each day to allow health professionals to talk over any issues.

And he said, above all, individuals addressing their own physical and mental welfare was vitally important. Drawing on the advice given to airline passengers preflight, he said: “You have to put on your own oxygen mask before you try to put on someone else’s.”

Insights

More than 130 CPD hours was offered across 24 module topic areas via 80 live sessions and 100 on-demand webinars, including four keynote speakers, across the three days of BSAVA Virtual Congress from 25 to 27 March.

Content will be available for the next two months online.