27 Sep 2023The National Health Service (NHS) has recently been criticised for being too reactive and not proactive enough. While this may be true, this is not despite best efforts at all levels and is more likely the impact of the system facing ever-growing demand and the current financial climate. Staff shortages are also becoming an issue, as staff reach burnout and choose to leave the profession. The big question is how we might manage to maintain a work-life balance for staff to prevent demand from intensifying further. In this blog, Tanita Limani (Wellbeing Research and Evaluation Associate, UCLH NHS Foundation Trust) discusses how she has contended with challenges to her profession, and how research has given her a way forward.
It has always been my experience that healthcare professionals, despite the pressures they face, have a strong sense of empathy, compassion, and a caregiving nature. My background is in diagnostic radiography, where teamwork, communication and effectiveness are paramount to ensuring waiting time targets are met, ensuring timely diagnosis for effective treatments, and supporting patient experience and prognosis. I worked for nearly a decade in clinical settings but, with a heavy heart and a good deal of burnout, I sought alternative career paths. Ultimately, everything led back to radiography; I love being part of a team helping patients get better. Though, the environment was neither conducive to my health nor the work-life balance most of us dream of.
It is often said to be “impossible” to maintain a work-life balance when you decide on a clinical career in the NHS. This narrative is limiting and detrimental to the future of the NHS. I have worked hard to see how I could align my personal and professional interests, taking a master's in psychology whilst also working as the Lead CT Radiographer of the SUMMIT study, at the time Europe’s largest lung screening research study. This opportunity allowed me to learn theory alongside the indispensable experience and insight of clinical settings during the pandemic. But most importantly - the combined experience of research and clinical work made me realise that to promote the longevity of the NHS, resources must be equally targeted at staff interventions as much as they are on patient care with data-driven decisions.
Improving staff wellbeing: a research case study
The pandemic propelled the much-needed conversation about staff wellbeing, particularly among front-line staff. There is much still to do, particularly to support everyone in the NHS – from clinical on-the-ground staff, to shift workers, porters, cleaners, and everyone working relentlessly to support patients’ experience. This is often at their health's expense which can often lead them to alternative careers outside the NHS. I joined the NHS because I love helping and caring for people, much like everyone else in the NHS. Seeing now that this must start inside organisations, too, I now work within staff experience to support staff wellbeing. I evaluate current staff well-being initiatives, to understand their impact and to learn how can we optimise staff support with a targeted, evidence-based approach.
My experience in research during my Master's shifted my perspective on how to make sustainable, targeted change by using data-driven decisions. My interest is to improve staff wellbeing to support the lives of the staff, but also the quality of care delivered to patients, and with the hope of retaining NHS staff. I hope to increase the evidence base and contribute to research in this area to support the NHS to become proactive rather than reactive in supporting staff wellbeing.
Bridging the clinical-research gap
I hope that there can be an increase in combined (clinical/research) roles and research training provided to frontline health and care professionals interested in improving their research capacity. I continue to take NIHR research and evaluation courses; they have been supportive as I bridge the gap between a clinical and an evaluation and research-based role. These are a great opportunity to meet like-minded individuals who have been through the experiences that first-timers in research and academia inevitably face – to make sure that they are not deterred but supported, mentored, and encouraged to research and facilitate change in areas of need.
I miss clinical work and do the occasional bank shift, but I hope one day to be able to merge the two. More importantly, though, I want to increase the research base to support staff wellbeing for healthcare professionals. Right now, I am right where I need to be to move this in the right direction – as a research ambassador, who can share my clinical research journey and increase awareness of research opportunities.
Tanita Limani is a Be Well Research and Evaluation Associate at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH). She has a Diagnostic Radiography BSc, and a Psychology MSc, and is continuing to use research to find new ways to support NHS staff wellbeing.
Tanita has built her knowledge and understanding of research via training provided by the NIHR ARC North Thames Academy. She has taken the following courses: Mental Health Staff Research Champion Training, Introduction to Evaluation Online, and Economic Evaluation online: an introductory course.