Naming and shaming: COVID-19 and the medical professional (Luna Dolezal)

By Luna Dolezal and Arthur Rose

During the COVID-19 crisis, the use of shame has been prominent and we discuss how this has impacted on healthcare workers in particular. As frontline representatives of healthcare, doctors are particularly vulnerable to shame and shaming. Issues which directly affect a doctor’s ability to deliver healthcare effectively, including long working hours, staff shortages, bed shortages, waiting lists and limited treatment options, can be perceived as shortcomings in the individual’s performance, rather than part of wider systemic problems.