July 01, 2020

Episode 2: public health, moral injury & the ED

45 minutes

At the time of recording, the London Borough of Newham was reported to have the highest COVID-19 death rates in the UK with Brent, Hackney and Tower Hamlets not too far behind. It is no coincidence that Newham is also one of the poorest boroughs in the country as the pandemic lays bare our existing social, economic and political inequalities. These glaring disparities are likely to be exacerbated in the years to come given COVID-19's triple threat to health, education and income on both a national and global scale.

Hot on the heels of our first episode on "Racism & COVID-19", the NETRAG+ team had the opportunity to sit down with three health leaders working in distinct roles in Newham to listen to their personal and professional experiences of the pandemic thus far:

Director of Public Health for Newham, Jason Strelitz - working tirelessly with other local authority partners to advise schools, businesses and care services, and to support those who are vulnerable through food distribution, prescription delivery and befriending via ‘Help Newham’ hubs.

Emma Young, an EM consultant at Newham University Hospital, who describes the all-too-familiar transition from operational inconvenience to adrenaline-driven alarm reaction and, now, burnout and moral injury despite working in a specialty that is well-versed in problem-solving and dealing with uncertainty.

Esther Murray, a health psychologist working in Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry. Esther expands upon the concept of moral injury and its relationship with grief, guilt, minimisation and leadership. But is it possible to heal moral wounds - particularly at a time of social distancing when access to our usual support systems may be limited? Moral repair programmes for veteran soldiers suggests yes and, conveniently, its managed by conversations such as these - by sharing our stories and experiences with our peers. As Esther explains - we are each other’s most important resource.

What’s clear from episode 2 is that, amongst the very real tragedies of COVID-19, great compassion has emerged with a desire to look after each other and protect the wider community. There is, however, also outrage. Outrage for what has been long-apparent in Newham but which some of us had started to forget: inequality kills.

So as we move through this first wave - on to a second wave or recovery or whatever else befalls us - how do we use this outrage to rebuild better, respond better and, ultimately, do better so that all society moves forward and no one gets left behind?

There are a few other recommended resources on the accompanying blogpost here - listen, share and comment below to let us know what you think!

Shal

NETRAG+

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