Monitoring the longer-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and occupational outcomes of healthcare workers.
Aims We will investigate the longer-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and occupational outcomes of healthcare workers (HCWs), using an existing cohort to enable longitudinal analyses, by collecting another wave of questionnaire data around the 32-month follow-up mark.
What the research will involve (Research plan/work packages)
WP1: We will collect a fourth wave of NHS CHECK data to investigate the longer-term impact of the pandemic by following up our existing cohort of 23,000 HCWs in 18 NHS Trusts in England around the 32-month mark to add to previously collected baseline, 6 month and 12-month questionnaire data.
WP2: We will examine co-occurring mental health problems and work-related stressors as well as their associated factors among HCW and their change over time during the pandemic.
WP3: We will explore the trajectories of mental health outcomes over time in HCWs and the identification of factors that may have contributed to these trajectories.
WP4: We will identify the most helpful support services for HCWs, and whether views on these have changed over time.
What has the study found so far?
One paper on resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic has been published:
Kika, N., Trompeter, N., Lamb, D., Bhundia, R., Carr, E., Dempsey, B., ... & Stevelink, S. A. (2025). Resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: Associations with changes in burnout and mental well-being among NHS mental health staff in England. PLoS One, 20(7), e0326753
One paper on HCWs’ sickness absence and staff’s intention to leave has been accepted in BMC Health Services Research
Dempsey Kika, N., Trompeter, N., Lamb, D., Bhundia, R., Carr, E., Dempsey, B., ... & Stevelink, S. A. (2025). Resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: Associations with changes in burnout and mental well-being among NHS mental health staff in England. PLoS One, 20(7), e0326753.
Three papers have been submitted for publication: 1) HCW’s use of support services and predictors associated with their use; 2) inequalites in NHS staff support; and 3) exploring the trajectories and associated factors of psychological distress over the course of the pandemic in HCWs.
Dempsey, B., Almeida-Meza, P., Lamb, D., Greenberg, N., Madan, I., Raine, R., Rafferty, AM., Bhundia, R., Wessely, S., & Stevelink, SAM (under review). Prevalence and predictors of support service use among healthcare workers in England: Findings from NHS CHECK. BJPsych Open.
Croak, B., Lamb, D., Stevelink, SAM., Bhundia, R., Onwumere, J., Dempsy, B., Almeida-Meza, P., Chui, Z., Greenberg, N., Raine, R., Woodhead, C., Hatch, SL., Rhead, R. (under review). Inequalities in NHS staff support among those from ethnic minority and migrant groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Penfold, C., Almeida-Meza, P., Redaniel, T., Scott, LJ., Moran, P., Raine, R., Bhundia, R., Greenberg, N., Wessely, S., Croak, B., Morriss, R., Madan, I., Aiken, P., Rafferty, AM., Dorrington, S., Murphy, D., Stevelink, SAM., & Lamb, D. (under review). The longitudinal trajectories of mental health outcomes in health care workers in England during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychological Medicine.
One paper is currently being drafted: The prevalence of mental health and occupational outcomes, and associated factors, among HCWs at 32-month follow-up. This paper will be submitted by 2026.
An abstract titled “Long-term impact of COVID-19 on mental health and occupational outcomes of healthcare workers in England: Findings from the NHS CHECK study” has been accepted for presentation at the 2025 Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research conference in Ottawa, Canada.
Study Team: Dr Sharon Stevelink, Dr Danielle Lamb, Dr Brendan Dempsey, Dr Pamela Almeida, Prof Ira Madan.
Further information: sharon.stevelink@kcl.ac.uk
Funders Rosetrees Trust
Publications
Padmanathan P, Lamb D, Scott H, Stevelink S.A.M, Greenberg N, Hotopf M, Morriss R, Raine R, Rafferty M, Madan I, Dorrington S, Wessely S, Moran P. (2023) Suicidal thoughts and behaviour among healthcare workers in England during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study. PLoS ONE. 18(6) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286207
Dempsey B, Trompeter N, Madan I, Lamb D, Greenberg N, Bhundia R, et al. (2023) Findings from the 32 month follow-up survey of the NHS CHECK Longitudinal Cohort. OSF. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/9X36D.
Scott L.J, Lamb D, Penfold C, Redaniel M.T, Trompeter N, Moran P, Bhundia R, Greenberg N, Raine R, Wessely S, Madan I, Aitken P, Rafferty A.M, Dorrington S, Morriss R, Murphy D, Stevelink S.A.M (2024) NHS staff: Sickness absence and intention to leave the profession. MedRxiv (pre-print). https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.05.24311412