The BMA arranged a well being meeting for all doctors and medical students in East Anglia and this was on Thursday last week.

It was really good to see people face-to-face, some people you had not seen for a few years, prior to the pandemic and others you had not met before.

We all recognise the strain we have been under, with increasing demand, more difficulty providing prompt treatment and the exodus of experienced staff with out numbers of newer, younger people matching that in any professional area.

However, there are many things we can do to facilitate a healthier and safer work environment that will of course translate into better patient care.

Dr Rachel Morris, executive and team coach, and former general practitioner explained why we should all say, “no” more often and consider far more carefully when we say “yes”. She gave a good personal example of a domestic flight, when there was a discrepancy between the flight schedule from the airline and what the aeroplane computer was informing the pilot. They did not take off until this was rectified. Then they missed their landing slot, so had to taxi…. The passengers were fed up and complaining but did the flight staff and pilot relent, no, they said “no” and then landed safely.

Dr Morris asked us all why doctors take on more work than possible. Many reasons – interestingly patient may suffer was not the most common answer.

Very thought provoking when we are all trying to fit more work in, with less colleagues to spread the workload around.

Then Dr Simon Poole, general practitioner, discussed the benefits of lifestyle medicine and in particular the Mediterranean diet. There are six pillars of lifestyle medicine, these are

• Restorative sleep
• Stress management and meditation
• Regular exercise and movement
• Avoiding substance abuse
• Healthy social relationships
• A nutrient-dense whole food predominantly plant based diet

You can imagine a group of doctors fully understand the benefits of the above but how many actually practice it themselves? There was again interesting a lively discussion about this. In a profession that can be all consuming with little free time, how do you sleep well, eat well, maintain meaningful relationships and exercise regularly? In a stressful job, how do you avoid substance abuse and manage stress?

It really is necessary to look after yourself first.

Learn the way to say, “no” to those things you do not have time for and are not important to you.

Practice looking after your health and well being, and start enjoying life outside of work.