Most people do not go into the public services, such as health, social care and education to be mediocre and fail. They start off aspiring to be and do something special and to bring the best of themselves to their work. However, for many, things happen along the way that result in disappointment, distress, failure, exhaustion and burnout - all at enormous cost, for example the NHS sickness absence bill is £1.5bn.

We know that many young medical students lose their empathy during training as they become the diagnosticians, decision-makers and technicians that they will need to be if they are to survive themselves in extremely challenging environments.

Many of these young people realise that they have had very little preparation or training when they start work on the wards as front-line Foundation Year 1 and 2 doctors and feel ill-prepared and exposed in terms of caring for themselves and their pre-existing compassion and empathy.

We are here, acting collaboratively, to act on all the above and much else besides, so that the hearts and souls of the NHS are rescued, recovered and retained. We are also committed to pressing for the removal of heartless and pointless activities that are wearing out fundamentally caring NHS staff, damaging their wellbeing and the quality and safety of care.