Motivation gap grows between bank and substantive staff

NHS bank staff motivation and engagement have increased in a new national survey, in contrast to falling scores among other colleagues.

The results also revealed a widening gap between the proportion who look forward to work and are enthusiastic about their job, compared to their peers.

The 2025 staff survey for bank workers showed motivation rose slightly to just under 7.5 out of 10. This fell to below 6.9 – the worst score in recent years – for substantive staff in results released last month.

The overall engagement score – which also covers involvement and advocacy – had a small rise to 6.93 for bank staff last year, compared to a historic low of 6.75 reported by substantive staff. 

The results showed bank staff were more likely to look forward to going to work at 67% of respondents compared to 52% of substantive staff, with the gap in scores over 3 percentage points wider than in 2023.

However, nearly one in four bank-only workers said they had experienced physical violence within the past 12 months, which has declined slightly from 25% the year before.

This is still significantly higher than the 15% reported by their substantive colleagues and varied by ethnic background.

The report said: “For female white bank workers, the proportion experiencing violence at work from patients or the public has decreased compared to last year and, at 22%, is at a three-year low.

“The proportion of male white workers experiencing at least one incident of physical violence from patients or the public has also decreased, whereas male workers from all other ethnic groups have seen an increase in experiences of violence this year, with more than three in ten … experiencing such behaviour in 2025.”

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Source: HSJ, 27 April 2026