Survey findings

Abstract

Essential workers have faced many difficult situations working during in the pandemic. Staff may feel that they, or other people, have acted wrongly and be distressed by this. This represents moral injury, which has been linked with significant mental ill health. This survey asked essential workers in County Durham and Darlington about their experiences during the first wave of the pandemic and anything they felt would help. Wellbeing and moral injury were rated using sliders. There were 566 responses. A majority of respondents reported feeling troubled by other people’s actions they felt were wrong (60% scored over 40, where 0 is “not at all troubled” and 100 “very troubled”, median score=52.5). Respondents were generally