A Reflection Shaped by the Healthcare Staff of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come!
It is coming up to that time of year again when Christmas and New Year can bring moments of joy for healthcare workers. It is our time to take a much-needed rest and spend quality time with our family and friends. But the festive season can also resemble the opening chapters of A Christmas Carol, where merriness sits alongside strain, responsibility and reflection. For a lot of healthcare professionals working across the NHS, the private and primary health sectors, the festive season can be one of the most demanding periods of the year. We can face a number of issues such as staff shortages; increased patient loads and carrying the emotional intensity of caring for people at their most vulnerable. This can potentially leave us drained and exhausted.
Alongside these stresses, we as healthcare professionals may find ourselves having personal responsibilities at home, such as being a carer for loved ones who maybe living with various medical health conditions, chronic illness or mental health challenges, increasing our risk of burnout even further. This can make it very challenging for healthcare professionals, who may not get a break in between all the noise of those everyday stresses. As a nurse myself, who has had to juggle both my nursing career and looking after my mum, who lived with dementia, I know all too well the constant challenges we face day in and day out, and it can be overwhelming putting all of our Christmas baubles in to one basket.
I hope this blog gives hope to the thousands of healthcare professionals struggling this festive season, by shining a light on the issues of burnout around the Christmas/New Year period that most of us will likely face. If there is one thing you take away from this, let it be this: you are not alone and support exists, both formally and within our shared humanity.
Much like Ebenezer Scrooge’s encounters with the spirits on a cold Christmas night, this blog will walk us through the pressures of Christmas Past, the realities of Christmas Present, and the hopeful strategies of Christmas Yet to Come. My goal is to help you protect your mental health and wellbeing during this season through research, real-life insight and practical strategies rooted in the everyday realities of healthcare work.
Recent UK research highlights how sharply pressure rises at this time of year. A national survey by NHS Charities Together (2024) found that 51% of NHS staff said December is the most stressful month, with more than half expecting to miss family celebrations or work extra shifts to cover colleagues. Healthcare staff reported feeling emotionally drained, taken for granted and unable to recover between shifts, warning signs even Ebenezer Scrooge himself might have recognised in his darker days.
Nurses and health visitors were particularly affected in 2023, which showed that they lost 6.9 million working days to sickness, with over a quarter caused by stress, anxiety or depression. General practice is no different: the RCGP (Royal College of General Practitioners -2025) reported that 73% of GPs believe winter workload pressures are compromising patient safety, and that exhaustion peaks around Christmas due to increased consultations and reduced community services.
Private and independent-sector clinicians also feel the strain. As NHS waiting lists drive more patients towards private hospitals, staff report rising caseloads throughout winter, especially for elective procedures and urgent diagnostics. Seasonal demand rises everywhere and so does the emotional load.
These pressures, accumulated year after year, form our own Christmas Past, a reminder that these struggles are not new, nor are they the fault of individual healthcare workers.
For thousands of healthcare workers, festive-season pressure doesn’t end when their shift finishes. Many are also unpaid carers for children with additional needs, relatives with mental-health conditions, elderly parents, or family members living with dementia or Alzheimer’s.
According to Carers UK (2025), caring responsibilities significantly affect employment, earnings and wellbeing and carers report that Christmas and New Year are among the hardest times of the year. Routines change, services close or run on reduced hours, and cared-for individuals may experience behavioural changes, confusion or anxiety.
For people with dementia, symptoms often worsen during the festive period due to disrupted routines, overstimulation, and changes in environment. Charities including Dementia UK and Alzheimer’s Society warn that carers frequently face increased distress, night-time waking, or rapid behavioural changes in December, all while balancing demanding clinical workloads.
In Dickens’ Christmas Present, the Ghost reveals the hidden struggles of people behind closed doors. Likewise, we as healthcare professionals can quietly carry two heavy responsibilities at once:
The needs of our patients and the needs of our own families behind closed doors.
Having cared for a parent with dementia myself, I understand how heavy this emotional load can feel. The festive season often intensifies the guilt of missing family moments or feeling pulled between the needs of patients and those we love. Charles Dickens recognised this emotional divide, the ever-present tension between obligation and compassion.
But dementia is only one example. Many healthcare staff also support loved ones living with:
The Alzheimer’s Society (2025) advises carers to introduce decorations gradually to avoid confusion, and to keep routines consistent. Dementia UK Admiral Nurses (2024) recommend planning ahead for medications and GP services, which may have reduced hours.
Meanwhile, Mind UK highlights that Christmas can be a particularly difficult time for those with depression or anxiety, urging carers to prioritise calm routines and open conversations. These issues can shine a light on the realities of our Christmas Present, which can be complex, emotional and demanding.
To read further about the financial difficulties carers face, you can access the link for Carers UK: State of Caring 2024 document.
Below we will explore a series of real-life accounts and data statistics, our modern story moments, offering gentle reflections that echo Dickens’ own observations about society and human struggle:
Lesson: Even short rotations can lead to burnout without adequate rest and support.
Lesson: Healthcare staff should recognise their own limits and seek peer or professional support when caring for loved ones with mental health challenges.
Lesson: Planning ahead for prescriptions and supplies is essential for carers managing chronic conditions at home.
Lesson: Small adjustments can make festive traditions more inclusive for people living with dementia.
Lesson: Building small social connections, whether with colleagues or community groups, can help reduce loneliness.
The spirit of Christmas Yet to Come in Dickens’ tale offers not fear, but clarity, a chance to change course for the better. The strategies below are a set of realistic, evidence-informed strategies designed specifically for healthcare professionals juggling both work and caring duties over Christmas and New Year.
Organise essential tasks:
Prepare meals in advance, organise a full week’s medication, and set automated reminders for appointments and prescriptions.
Use delivery and refill services:
Supermarket delivery slots, pharmacy prescription deliveries and advance ordering of mobility or care supplies can prevent last-minute stress.
Simplify festive expectations:
Dial down traditions that require time or energy. Those with dementia or SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) often cope better with calm, predictable routines.
Adult Social Care Out-of-Hours Teams
Available 24/7 via your local council services for urgent respite, safeguarding concerns or crisis support.
Children’s Services Emergency Duty Teams
For sudden difficulties with children who have learning disabilities, autism, behavioural needs or mental-health crises, check your local council services.
Carers UK Helpline
Offers guidance, emotional support and help with emergency planning.
https://www.carersuk.org/
Dementia UK Admiral Nurse Helpline
Specialist support during behavioural crises or heightened confusion.
https://www.dementiauk.org/
NHS 111 or regional mental-health crisis lines
Essential if your cared-for person experiences sudden deterioration.
All UK healthcare workers, regardless of sector, have the legal right to request flexible working from day one.
Helpful options include:
Instead of adding more tasks, focus on strategies that lighten your load. Like Scrooge’s final revelation in A Christmas Carol, he realised that small changes matter and can create positivity over the festive season:
Take 10 minute breaks
Short breaks, stretching, or quiet moments during shifts help regulate stress.
Set two daily non-negotiable tasks
For example: medication on time and 30 minutes of phone-free rest before bed.
Hydration and nourishing snacks
Prevent the physical drop that increases emotional exhaustion.
Stay connected
A check-in with one trusted person reduces isolation. Think of a friend or a family member who you can stay connected with.
Plan a January reset day
Mark a single day for yourself once the festive pressure has passed.
A written plan reduces stress for you and those supporting your loved one while you’re at work. This can Include:
The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 gives statutory rights to unpaid carers to take leave to care for dependants with long-term needs, including those with chronic illness, disability or mature age.
Call‑out Tip: Self-care doesn’t have to be big or time consuming. Small, consistent actions matter most. Recognising these signs early is key to preventing escalation.
As someone who has cared for a parent with dementia, I know the emotional weight of balancing professional duties with personal caregiving throughout the festive season. And like Jacob Marley who visited Ebenezer Scrooge on that frozen Christmas night, we can feel shackled with feelings of guilt, being absent from family celebrations or feeling torn between patients and loved ones.
Practical tips for dual carers:
Healthcare staff are not just professional, they are parents, partners, carers and friends. The festive season often magnifies the tension between professional duty and personal life. For some, missing Christmas dinner with family is a sacrifice made to keep patients safe. For others, the challenge is returning home after a draining shift to care for a loved one with complex needs.
This dual role highlights the importance of compassion, not only for patients but for ourselves and our colleagues. Compassion fatigue is real and acknowledging it is the first step toward resilience.
Christmas and New Year can be both rewarding and exhausting for healthcare staff. By recognising the risks of burnout, adopting practical self-care strategies, and seeking support both at work and at home, staff can navigate the season with resilience. For those caring for loved ones, whether living with dementia, chronic illness, or mental health challenges, the festive period may look different, but it can still hold moments of connection and joy. Across the NHS, the private and primary care sector, caring throughout Christmas and New Year means protecting both patients and ourselves but it can still hold moments of connection and joy. Take a moment to remember that, it is not about doing everything; it’s about doing what matters, sustainably and compassionately.
Please find below a number of health resources I have included to help you maintain your health and wellbeing over this festive season. Remember, we are not just healthcare staff who are professionals at our job, we are parents, partners, carers and friends. Dickens wrote of compassion as a quiet, powerful force. And we should be recognising that our own limits are not weakness but in fact wisdom.
NHS and Public Sector Support
Primary Care and GP Practices
Private Healthcare and Independent Sector
This Christmas, as I have already highlighted, you are not alone. Dickens teaches us that the festive season is not about doing everything, it’s about doing what matters, sustainably and with kindness. Whether you are working long shifts in the NHS, supporting patients in primary care, or delivering services in private hospitals, support networks are there to help you rest, recover, and reconnect. By reaching out to these services, healthcare professionals can ensure that the festive season is not just about surviving, but about finding moments of joy, connection and renewal.
As Dickens closes A Christmas Carol with Tiny Tim’s timeless blessing: “God bless Us, Every One!” May we also carry a little of that hope with us through the festive season.
We at Health Academy want to wish all our healthcare workers across all health sectors a peaceful and restorative festive season.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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