That post holiday sinking feeling…and how to fix it

Who amongst us hasn’t experienced a 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐬 when opening our inbox on return from leave?

But here’s the thing:

We would never expect patient-facing work to be displaced into our return; it’s cancelled or covered. Yet we accept that the 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 for us.

Over the last decade, our inbox volume has exploded. After just one week away, I would often come back to several hundred emails, with no realistic capacity in my already full week to deal with them.

I drifted into two unhealthy strategies:

1. 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 while on leave, blurring boundaries to the point where neither I nor my family knew which version of me was present.

2. 𝐒𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 to clear the inbox.

Somehow, the NHS has normalised the idea that it’s unacceptable to “𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭” direct clinical care into our return, yet acceptable to do so with our inbox.

Perhaps this is because clinical work is time-locked, while admin isn’t. Emails accumulate quietly and can be done anytime, including outside working hours at home.

But just because it 𝘤𝘢𝘯 be done in our own time doesn’t mean it 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 be.

So can we 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲?

Absolutely.

A decade ago, Daimler introduced its “𝘔𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺” approach, where all emails received during leave were automatically deleted. Senders received an auto-reply providing an alternative contact. It treated email as an organisational function, not a personal burden.

So how might this translate to the NHS?

With modern digital systems separating clinical information (results, letters, A+G, patient requests) into dedicated inboxes, emails should no longer contain patient-related or time-critical information.

This creates space for:

• 𝐀 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 for managing clinical admin while someone is away

• An 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 message such as:

“I am on leave from X to Y and 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 sent during this time. For clinical or operational matters, please contact Z. For non-urgent matters, please consider resending on my return.”

Alternatively, we could 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠-𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 for returning staff to complete displaced admin, though we all know this is easier said than done.

Either option is preferable to squeezing email responses between patients, in meetings, or blurring boundaries by bringing them home.

I don’t pretend to have the answer. There will be differing and valid views on what’s workable. But modern systems do give us an opportunity to rethink this.

I look forward to a day when colleagues return from leave refreshed and energised, not dreading a vast inbox.

I hope this sparks a wider discussion.

• Is there a 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲?

• What 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮?

• What would it take to 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲?