The cry for professional intimacy: A UK study of changes in the working lives of expert practitioners in health and education during the early 21st century

Abstract

This paper reports on factors affecting the working lives of practitioners in health and education in the UK. The context is the increasing evidence of low recruitment, low retention rates and a high incidence of stress amongst expert practitioners in these two public institutions. Similar patterns of practitioner response indicate the systemic nature of the problems besetting these two public institutions. What emerges from the data is a cross-sector phenomenon identified here as a “cry for professional intimacy”, formed as these practitioners give voice to a strong desire to be allowed to refocus on the relational aspects of their work.