NHS staff burnout highlights desperate need for workforce plan to focus on retention and wellbeing

Commenting on today’s NHS Staff Survey results and the latest NHS monthly performance statistics, Tim Gardner, Senior Policy Fellow said: 

“Findings from today’s NHS staff survey suggest that many working in the NHS are burnt out and feel unable to do their jobs properly due to staff shortages. Working in an environment of constant and unrelenting pressure has unsurprisingly taken its toll on staff wellbeing. This is also illustrated through the latest NHS performance statistics where A&E pressures in particular show little sign of abating, highlighting the strain felt across health and social care services.  

“Only a quarter of the NHS workforce say there are enough staff to do their jobs properly and a third feel burnt out. Increasingly, staff say they’re unhappy with the standard of patient care and feel they lack the resources they need to do their job. Dissatisfaction with pay is also a key issue, and around a third of staff say they often think about leaving. There are also worrying findings of increasing levels of discrimination experienced by staff from black and ethnic minority groups. These results show that the forthcoming NHS workforce plan must focus on retention as much as recruitment by making the NHS a better place to work and a more attractive employer. 

“There is no national survey of social care staff, but the NHS and social care workforces are closely entwined and both have severe staff shortages. Alongside the plan for the NHS, a workforce plan for social care is long overdue.” 

Media contact

Emily Wilson
Emily.Wilson@health.org.uk
020 7257 2061