NHS staff will face 'massive levels of burnout' and 'very fragile' mental health after the pandemic

NHS staff will face 'massive levels of burnout' and their mental health will be 'very fragile' once the pandemic ends, a top doctor has warned. Dr Lewis Morrison, the chair of the British Medical Association in Scotland, has warned that NHS staff will face 'massive levels of burnout' once the pandemic ends And he said a 'public messaging campaign' was now required to explain to the people why things were still being delayed several months after Covid-19 first hit Scotland. Dr Morrison said: 'I think the real risk as we come out of this pandemic are massive levels of burnouts and the risk of that, and the very fragile health, mental health, of the healthcare workforce is going to need a lot of care over the next couple of years' The BMA Scotland chair said: 'We're entering a period now where people's frustrations are starting to show a wee bit more, and health and social care are on the front line of the expression of those frustrations, when people can't get the health care they need as quickly as they normally would.' In other coronavirus news: The R rate fell below 1 for the first time in months while the UK recorded 15,871 new Covid-19 cases today; Central London descended into anarchy as riot police broke up anti-lockdown rallies led by Piers Corbyn and arrested mask-less demonstrators; Stratford-on-Avon MP Nadhim Zahawi has been appointed as PM's vaccine tsar; Gove told potential Tory rebels to back Government or risk NHS being 'overrun'; Boris Johnson promised a Commons vote on the tier system in the new year in a bid to head off a backbench rebellion; The health expert behind Sweden's no-lockdown Covid-19 strategy appears to have been pushed off the airwaves amid a 'split' within the government as the country's number of coronavirus deaths continues to rise; Towns and villages near coronavirus hotspots could se e restrictions relaxed A laboratory error meant more than 1,300 people were wrongly told they had coronavirus; Hospitals have been told to prepare for the rollout of the Pfizer vaccine in as little as ten days. A further 15,871 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the UK today, marking a 20 per cent drop on the number of cases reported last Saturday Official figures have also revealed a further 479 coronavirus deaths - a 40 per cent rise on the 341 figure seen last Saturday A further 15,871 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the UK today, marking a 20 per cent drop on the number of cases reported last Saturday.