Picker blog - NHS Staff Survey shows growing concern over staffing levels (30 March 2022)

Summary

This blog by the charity Picker explores concerns about the safety of staffing levels in the NHS, highlighted by the 2021 NHS Staff Survey. It talks about the potential impact of a recent drop in staff morale.

The blog draws out these key findings from the survey:

• The proportion of staff who felt unwell as a result of work-related stress in the last 12 months rose to 46% – almost half. This was an increase of nearly 3% from the 2020 figure (44%) and continued a trend: the figure has risen each year since 2017, when 38% of staff reported work-related stress.
• Almost one-in-three staff members say they “often think about leaving” their organisation – an increase of 4% points vs the 26% recorded in 2020. And one-in-six (16%) say they will leave their organisation “as soon as I can find another job” – a 2% point increase from 2020.
• Only 52% of NHS staff say that they look forward to going to work – a decline of more than 6% points from 58% in 2020.
• New questions in the survey suggest that many staff are experiencing burnout. Overall, more than a third of staff (34%) said that they ‘always’ or ‘often’ “feel burnt out because of [their] work”. The proportion was even higher for staff in patient facing roles (for example, 41% of registered nurses and midwives) and especially for ambulance personnel (51%).

Content