A survey has found that 40% of optical practice staff feel worn out at the end of the working day while 54% felt their home life was impacted by work.
Norfolk & Waveney Integrated Care System conducted the survey as part of its #WeCareTogether NHS health and wellbeing programme that is being piloted in the area.
The survey revealed that 7% of staff from optical practices identified as having high or severe burnout levels using the Copenhagen burnout index.
However, burnout in optometry was significantly lower compared to other primary care sectors in Norfolk & Waveney with high or severe burnout levels reported by 25% in pharmacy and dentistry.
Catherine Hedges (pictured below), optometry lead for the health and wellbeing programme at NHS Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group, said: ‘Opticians score significantly better across the board than any other primary care sector, with fewer concerns about staffing levels; the lowest levels of bullying, public abuse and burnout, leading to staff being most likely to remain in their current job.’ However, public abuse in the last 12 months was noted in the survey by around half of optical practice staff.
Seeking support
Norfolk & Waveney Integrated Care System’s survey received 41 responses from optical practices, which included 30 independents and eight multiples.
Hedges told Optician that around 25% of optical practice staff felt staffing levels were insufficient for them to do their job properly. There were 15% who said they were likely to leave the profession within 12 months. ‘There is a clear correlation between intention to leave and concerns about staffing levels with a general sense of wellbeing,’ she said.
The survey also identified half of optical practice staff had gone to work in the past three months despite being unwell and optical practice managers were more likely than other primary care professions to pressurise staff to do so.
Hedges said: ‘Around 7% of opticians staff are concerned about workplace bullying, which is half the level across primary care in Norfolk & Waveney. However, where bullying occurs they feel less well-supported than their primary care counterparts locally.
‘Opticians staff have the strongest sense of the value of their work, of it being valued by the organisation, and sense of being engaged in decisions that affect their work. However, they feel less supported by their colleagues, enjoy working with them less and are less able to address team relationships than their primary care counterparts.’
When asked what the one factor that would make a positive difference to health and wellbeing at work, the key themes identified were staffing, scheduling and facilities, and culture.
Respondents commented they needed longer time between patients, more time off, adequate remuneration to be able to employ staff and further training. Coffee breaks, improved staff facilities and regular lunch breaks were also noted, as was greater support and understanding from the practice owner and better communication.
Hedges said there was low awareness of health and wellbeing resources provided by professional bodies nationally and was lowest among optical practice staff compared to other primary care professions locally.
Hedges commented: ‘When asked to tell us which five topics within health and wellbeing they would be interested to learn more about the results were, in order of popularity: menopause, when adjusted for gender and age; anxiety and worry; work/life balance; stress and burnout; and healthy sleep.’
Wellbeing workshops
The NHS health and wellbeing programme has provided support to primary care professionals, including staff working in optical practices, in Norfolk & Waveney since January, 2022.
The scheme was designed to make a difference to primary care practitioners by creating access to resources, including specific tools for those in the optometry profession.
‘As optometrists, we need to ensure we look after our own health and wellbeing. We spend all day caring for our patients but who cares for us? It’s a challenging question. Who cares if you’re anxious, depressed, or struggling? Who cares for your health and wellbeing?
‘We have a few different options available to staff. We have been running a series of workshops on a whole range of health and wellbeing topics, such as how to handle stress and improving resilience. We have specific workshops and courses that are designed for more senior leaders, such as business owners and managers, which is called the Resilient Team Academy. It provides more focused support relevant to their roles,’ Hedges said.
Resources included a free to access website that hosts tools tailored to specific needs of staff while the Shapes programme provides seven health and wellbeing and coaching tools.
Shapes was developed by Cambridgeshire-based GP Dr Rachel Morris and the toolkit was developed to help individuals become more resilient and productive.
It could also help managers and clinical leaders to have better one-to-one conversations with their teams. Training tools have been designed in the format of workshops, webinars, videos and downloadable content.
‘There isn’t a shortage of health and wellbeing resources out there; just a lack of time to find the good stuff. Our #WeCareTogether website provides a single front door to a selection of 150 of the best NHS health and wellbeing resources available nationally, as well as immediate access to the health and wellbeing support available from the national professional bodies in optometry. The #WeCareTogether site is unique to Norfolk & Waveney and tailored to what staff across primary care tell us is important to them,’ Hedges said.
Hedges is an optometrist with over 20 years’ experience in East Anglia, including practising on the high street, in hospital ophthalmology clinics and at Anglia Ruskin University. In her role as health and wellbeing lead for optometry, she liaises with Norfolk local optical committee and speaks directly to optical practices about the scheme.
Sharing best practice
Hedges explained that the initiative was created in response to Covid-19 and the related burnout primary care staff experienced. Best practices are shared between a health and wellbeing lead that oversees the scheme in each of the four pillars of primary care.
‘Every week we meet to discuss where we’re at within the scheme and any challenges we’ve had. The professions are all very different and, for me, it’s often a case of thinking, “How can we make sure we’re targeting optometry? What do we need to do differently within our profession to get the word out?”,’ Hedges said.
One of the ways Hedges has tailored content for the profession is by reducing the length of the workshops. She noted that optical practices do not have allocated learning time like GPs do. ‘Optometrists run busy clinics and can’t afford to close the practice for half a day. It was a case of changing the format of the workshops so that we could fit them within staff training because most people maybe have an hour in a week that they could utilise,’ she said.
Hedges shares best practice within the NHS and with other regions that are piloting the scheme. ‘The idea, of course, is that it doesn’t end after a year and rolls out regionally, hopefully nationally,’ she said.
When talking to optical practices, Hedges has found staff struggle to build time into their day to utilise the health and wellbeing resources. In order to better engage with practice staff on health and wellbeing, existing resources were used in self-directed CPD. This, Hedges said, is when she realised the scheme was working. ‘I started getting contacted directly by people saying, “I’ve listened to this and I would like some help with my wellbeing.” Then I was able to signpost to different workshops and masterclasses,’ she said.
Creating access
Hedges said there needs to be more awareness about health and wellbeing within the industry so staff feel able to speak to their manager. ‘It might be a tough call for optical practice staff members to turn to the manager for wellbeing support because that very person might be putting pressure on them to reduce the testing times and conversion rates, for example. That’s why it’s very important for those within optometry to have access to wellbeing support and have somewhere else to turn to for support.’
OutsideClinic, Specsavers and the Hakim Group were employers Hedges cited as active in providing health and wellbeing support. OutsideClinic employs Tasting Colours to provide a wellbeing scheme, which allowed the individual to decide what’s best for them. Hedges said Hakim Group’s retreats were unique in taking a wellbeing approach rather than having an optometry focus. This year, Specsavers created Menotalk, a menopause wellbeing scheme, which was also identified as a key area by respondents in the Norfolk & Waveney survey. As a result, Hedges has focused new wellbeing resources on specific menopause training.
Hedges commented: ‘A lot has changed because of the pandemic. It’s given people time to be more self-aware and reassess what they want from life. Some optometrists may feel like robots on a conveyor belt and this is what leads to burnout, combined with time pressures and conversion rates. They’re seeing their peers in other professions who are able to work from home with more flexibility, and it’s making optometrists reassess what they want from their careers.’