Management standards and burnout among surgeons in the United Kingdom

Houdmont, Jonathan; Hassard, Juliet; Daliya, Prita; Adiamah, Alfred; Theophilidou, Elena; Lobo, Dileep; East Midlands Surgical Academic Network (EMSAN) Burnout Study Group, East Midlands Surgical Academic Network (EMSAN) Burnout Study Group

Abstract

Background
Burnout arising from chronic work-related stress is endemic among surgeons in the UK. Identification of contributory and modifiable psychosocial work characteristics could inform risk reduction activities.

Aims
We aimed to assess the extent to which surgeons’ psychosocial working conditions met aspirational Management Standards delineated by the UK Health and Safety Executive, draw comparisons with national general workforce benchmarks and explore associations with burnout.

Methods
Surgeons (N = 536) completed the Management Standards Indicator Tool and a single-item measure of burnout. Descriptive data were computed for each Standard, independent t-tests were used to examine differences between trainees and consultants, and hierarchical linear regression was applied to explore relations between psychosocial work environment quality and burnout.

Results
Psychosocial work environment quality fell short of each Management Standard. Trainee surgeons (n = 214) reported significantly poorer psychosocial working conditions than consultant surgeons (n = 322) on the control, peer support and change Standards. When compared with UK workforce benchmarks, trainees’ psychosocial working conditions fell below the 10th percentile on four Standards and below the 50th percentile on the remainder. Consultant surgeons were below the 50th percentile on five of the seven Standards. Psychosocial working conditions accounted for 35% of the variance in burnout over that accounted for by socio- and occupational-demographic characteristics.

Conclusions
Surgeons’ psychosocial working conditions were poor in comparison with benchmark data and associated with burnout. These findings suggest that risk management activities based on the Management Standards approach involving modification of psychosocial working conditions would help to reduce burnout in this population.

Citation

Houdmont, J., Hassard, J., Daliya, P., Adiamah, A., Theophilidou, E., Lobo, D., & East Midlands Surgical Academic Network (EMSAN) Burnout Study Group, E. M. S. A. N. (. B. S. G. (2023). Management standards and burnout among surgeons in the United Kingdom. Occupational Medicine, 73(8), 484-491. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqad102

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 7, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Oct 6, 2023
• Publication Date: Oct 6, 2023
• Deposit Date: Oct 9, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 9, 2023
• Journal: Occupational Medicine
• Print ISSN: 0962-7480
• Electronic ISSN: 1471-8405
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 73
• Issue: 8
• Article Number: kqad102
• Pages: 484-491
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqad102
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/25390310
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/occmed/advance-article/doi/10.1093/occmed/kqad102/7295330?login=false#420071651
• Additional Information: Authors on behalf of the East Midlands Surgical Academic Network (EMSAN) Burnout Study Group.