“At Least until the Second Wave Comes…”: A Twitter Analysis of the NHS and COVID-19 between March and June 2020

Kathy McKay, Sarah Wayland, David Ferguson, Jane Petty and Eilis Kennedy
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Kathy McKay: Public Health, Policy and Systems, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GL, UK
Sarah Wayland: School of Health, University of New England, Armidale 2350, Australia
David Ferguson: Formerly, Faculty of Transdisciplinary Innovation, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney 2007, Australia
Jane Petty: Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, London NW3 5BA, UK
Eilis Kennedy: Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, London NW3 5BA, UK

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-14

Abstract: In the UK, tweets around COVID-19 and health care have primarily focused on the NHS. Recent research has identified that the psychological well-being of NHS staff has been adversely impacted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to investigate narratives relating to the NHS and COVID-19 during the first lockdown (26 March–4 July 2020). A total of 123,880 tweets were collated and downloaded bound to the time period of the first lockdown in order to analyse the real-time discourse around COVID-19 and the NHS. Content analysis was undertaken and tweets were coded to positive and negative sentiments. Five main themes were identified: (1) the dichotomies of ‘clap for carers’; (2) problems with PPE and testing; (3) peaks of anger; (4) issues around hero worship; and (5) hints of a normality. Further research exploring and documenting social media narratives around COVID-19 and the NHS, in this and subsequent lockdowns, should help in tailoring suitable support for staff in the future and acknowledging the profound impact that the pandemic has had.

Keywords: COVID-19; NHS; twitter; content analysis; moral injury (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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