Department of Psychiatry, Leicester Partnership NHS Trust, UK
Christopher A. Martin
Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, UK; and Department of Infection and HIV Medicine, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, UK
Lucy Teece
Biostatistics Research Group, Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Leicester, UK
Patricia Irizar
Department of Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, University of Manchester, UK
Megan Batson
Leicester Medical School, University of Leicester, UK
Susie Lagrata
Queen Square Institute of Neurology and National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK
Padmasayee Papineni
Department of Infectious Diseases, Ealing Hospital, London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, UK
Joshua Nazareth
Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, UK; and Department of Infection and HIV Medicine, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, UK
Daniel Pan
Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, UK; Department of Infection and HIV Medicine, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, UK; and Li Ka Shing Institute for Health Information and Discovery, Oxford Big Data Institute, UK
Alison Leary
Department of Health and Social Care, London South Bank University, UK
Katherine Woolf
UCL Medical School, University College London, UK
Manish Pareek
Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, UK; and Department of Infection and HIV Medicine, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, UK
Background Exploration of the association between financial concerns and depression in UK healthcare workers (HCWs) is paramount given the current ‘cost of living crisis’, ongoing strike action and recruitment/retention problems in the National Health Service. Aims To assess the impact of financial concerns on the risk of depression in HCWs, how these concerns have changed over time and what factors might predict financial concerns. Method We used longitudinal survey data from a UK-wide cohort of HCWs to determine whether financial concerns at baseline (December 2020 to March 2021) were associated with depression (measured with the Public Health Questionnaire-2) at follow-up (June to October 2022). We used logistic regression to examine the association between financial concerns and depression, and ordinal logistic regression to establish predictors of developing financial concerns. Results A total of 3521 HCWs were included. Those concerned about their financial situation at baseline had higher odds of developing depressive symptoms at follow-up. Financial concerns increased in 43.8% of HCWs and decreased in 9%. Those in nursing, midwifery and other nursing roles had over twice the odds of developing financial concerns compared with those in medical roles. Conclusions Financial concerns are increasing in prevalence and predict the later development of depressive symptoms in UK HCWs. Those in nursing, midwifery and other allied nursing roles may have been disproportionately affected. Our results are concerning given the potential effects on sickness absence and staff retention. Policy makers should act to alleviate financial concerns to reduce the impact this may have on a discontent workforce plagued by understaffing.
