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MDDUS conducts an annual survey of its membership of doctors and dentists to find out more about the issues affecting their practice.
In 2024, a section of the survey was dedicated to exploring how compassion fatigue and related issues such as burnout and suicidal ideation have impacted our members.
In the survey, compassion fatigue was described as:
“The emotional cost of caring for others and prolonged exposure to the suffering and trauma of patients. It creates a loss of satisfaction from doing one’s job well and decreased ability to empathise with patients.”
Fieldwork was conducted by Survation via an online survey between 26th September and 14th October 2024, covering 2,298 members of MDDUS.
Key Findings
60%
of healthcare practitioners have experienced compassion fatigue as a result of their job
63%
feel compassion fatigue negatively impacts their ability to communicate with patients
66%
are experiencing burnout at work
67%
Are experiencing stress at work
74%
have considered leaving their profession or retiring early
19%
have experienced thoughts of self-harm or of taking their own life during their career as a healthcare professional
A comment from our CMO
“Compassion fatigue is effectively a hidden, secondary trauma with symptoms that can ultimately make it extraordinarily difficult for doctors to treat their patients.
Our findings point to the psychological stresses and strains of being a doctor that increase the risk of compassion fatigue, including non-supportive work settings, high caseloads and insufficient resources.”
Dr John Holden
Chief Medical Officer
Read the full report on Compassion fatigue
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