NHS staff are suffering from 'moral injury', a distress usually associated with war zones

NHS staff are suffering from ‘moral injury’, a distress usually associated with war zones
Mariam Alexander
© Provided by The Guardian
Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian
I remember the exact moment when the enormity of the Covid-19 crisis dawned on me. In the days before the pandemic was even called a pandemic, I was sitting in a hastily organised meeting of senior hospital colleagues. We were thrashing out how we might respond if the terrifying scenes emerging from northern Italy were to be replicated in our hospital. A critical care consultant stood up and said: “People have to understand that we are entering a war zone – we have to adapt accordingly.” There was a moment of stunned silence in the room. From somebody else these words might have seemed melodramatic, but from this wise, well-respected doctor, they struck a sobering chord.

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