Health & Fitness

Let’s mark the 72nd anniversary of the NHS by looking after the health of its heroes

Judith J. Mercado 16 hours ago
Getty Images
Getty Images

Today, the NHS celebrates its 72nd anniversary and the nation will get together to clap once again for the work of all its staff.

But it is also a moment to reflect on what we can give back to those who risked their health to save lives during the pandemic. Gratitude is one thing, but our NHS heroes deserve more than that. They deserve the highest levels of care for their own health and wellbeing, as they perform their duties.

We need a more consistent and better co-ordinated approach to high-quality occupational health support, in order to help staff remain healthy amidst the vast array of pressures they continue to face.

I’ve spent part of the last few months volunteering in the occupational health department at my local NHS trust. As a doctor specialising in occupational health, and with the NHS facing the biggest challenge in its history,

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Hillary Clinton says she ‘would have done a better job’ at handling the coronavirus pandemic

Judith J. Mercado 3 days ago
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton

Getty

  • Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said her administration could have saved more lives and modeled “more responsible behavior” during the coronavirus pandemic.

  • “I know I would have done a better job,” Clinton told a Hollywood Reporter podcast on Friday. 

  • Her comments come amid mounting case totals in the US. The nation reported its highest number of daily coronavirus cases on Friday: more than 56,000. 

  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Hillary Clinton isn’t relieved to be outside the Oval Office right now.

“I will tell you, it’s frustrating to be on the sidelines in a pandemic,” the former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee told The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast on Friday. 

She added that her administration would have been more successful at handling the coronavirus outbreak in the US.

“We wouldn’t have been able to stop the pandemic at our

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The mental health impact on ambulance staff of responding to suicide calls

Judith J. Mercado 5 days ago
<span class="caption">Ambulance staff are often the first to attend the site of many difficult scenes.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="link rapid-noclick-resp" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk0429-nhs-emergency-ambulance-parked-1717841272" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Yau Ming Low/ Shutterstock">Yau Ming Low/ Shutterstock</a></span>
Ambulance staff are often the first to attend the site of many difficult scenes. Yau Ming Low/ Shutterstock

Being ambulance staff can be a high-stress job. They encounter many situations in their daily line of work that can have a lasting impact on their mental health. According to MIND, around nine in ten emergency services staff have experienced poor mental health at some point in their career. Another study estimated that around 22% of ambulance staff have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Ambulance staff are often the first to attend the site of many difficult scenes, including deaths by suicide. We interviewed ambulance staff about the impact that responding to deaths by suicide has on their mental health. We found that not only did many feel ill-equipped to respond to these calls, these events also had a severe impact on their mental health.

Lasting impact

We carried out interviews with nine

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New Study Highlights Mental Health Impact of Autistic Masking

Judith J. Mercado 5 days ago
Stylish young woman standing near a plant with shadow light
Stylish young woman standing near a plant with shadow light

What happened: A new study, published in the journal Autism, shines new light on the relationship between camouflaging as an autistic woman and mental health concerns, as well as the importance of earlier screening and better support for autistic women across the lifespan.

  • Researchers at Brigham Young University recruited 58 female participants who reported difficulty in social situations and met board criteria for autism

  • Most of the participants reported masking their autistic characteristics often, which was associated with higher mental health difficulties

  • Of those included in the study, 62% reported depression, 66% stress, 67% anxiety and 62% suicidal thoughts

At the end of the day, we want [autistic women] to find inclusive communities who will help meet their social needs and support their ability to function as they’d like to day-to-day. — Dr. Jonathan Beck, study author

The Frontlines

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