Briefing

NHS Staff Survey results 2025: what you need to know

A summary of the national-level findings, and NHS Providers’ and NHS Confederation’s view, of the 2025 NHS Staff Survey results.
Sarah White

12 March 2026

Key points

  • Indicators relating to quality and experience of line management remain positive, which is very welcome, and demonstrates staff commitment to each other amid a significant period of change for the NHS. 

  • Reported experiences of discrimination from managers or colleagues is the lowest it has ever been at 8.77 per cent and has trended downwards year on year since the NHS Staff Survey began. 

  • The 10 Year Workforce Plan is due to set targets for the NHS to become the country’s best employer, not just the biggest. Challenging findings on staff engagement, motivation and morale paint a clear picture of how far off these targets are, set against a backdrop of ongoing national industrial disputes, and significant funding constraints. NHS employers take seriously their duty to improve the workplace experience for their staff and will continue to focus their efforts on this work. NHS England and government must enable this through the provision of appropriate funding, training places, and physical working environments. 

  • Indicators on workload, burnout, and pressures are worse than last year. Staff reporting being unwell as a result of work-related stress rose from 41.65 per cent to 42.36 per cent this year. Almost one-in-three staff feel burnt out because of their work. More than two-thirds of staff report being unable to do their job properly due to staffing levels. Only 54.80 per cent say their organisation takes positive action on health and well-being, a notable drop from 57.05 per cent last year and the lowest this metric has ever been – by almost 2 percentage points. The 10 Year Workforce Plan must address these findings by ensuring adequate staff pipelines, and supporting organisations to run focussed, sector-specific staff retention and wellbeing initiatives. 

  • Many measures relating to engagement and morale are at their lowest on record. 58.05 per cent of staff would recommend the NHS as a place to work compared to 60.79 per cent in 2024. The only time this metric has been lower was in 2022, at 57.38 per cent. 

  • There is a worrying decline in metrics relating to freedom to speak up, and action as a result.  

  • 62.84 per cent of staff say that if their friend or relative needed treatment, they would be happy with the standard of care provided by their organisation. This is the lowest this metric has ever been. 

  • 9.26 per cent of staff report experiencing discrimination from patients or the public. This metric has slowly but consistently increased year on year and is now the highest on record, with results for disabled and ethnic minority staff consistently worse. 

  • 25.25 per cent of staff have reported at least one incident of harassment, bullying or abuse in the last 12 months from patients or the public. This has been persistently high, peaking at 27.86 per cent in 2022. However, instances of the same from managers and other colleagues are now at their lowest recorded levels, 9.11 per cent and 17.01 per cent respectively. We look forward to these metrics continuing to drop. 

  • 9.07 per cent of staff report experiencing unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature from patients or the public (8.85 per cent last year), rising very sharply to 31.05 per cent for ambulance staff (an increase from 28.79 per cent last year). When asked about their experience of unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature from colleagues, 3.51 per cent of staff reported that an incident had taken place in the last 12 months. This compares favourably to 3.67 per cent last year, and 3.86 per cent in 2023. The downward trajectory is very welcome.  

Overview 

On 12 March 2026, NHS England (NHSE) published the annual NHS Staff Survey results. The survey ran from across autumn 2025 and gathered responses from 766,285 staff (2 per cent down from 2024). This is equivalent to fewer than half of all NHS staff (49 per cent). Results cover staff from 238 NHS organisations, including all 206 trusts.   

By staff group, registered nurses and midwives were by far the most common respondents at 219,563 responses, followed by Allied Health Professionals at 119,524 responses, then admin and clerical staff at 105,201 responses. 20,343 general management staff responded.  

Since 2021, the survey questions have been aligned with the NHS People Promise. The NHS Social Partnership Forum has been working on a new set of minimum staff standards, currently due for publication in April this year. We await detail of these, and whether they will also become key metrics in the annual NHS Staff Survey, or replace the People Promise metrics.  

The success metrics for a number of High Impact Actions (HIAs) in NHSE’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Improvement Plan are closely linked to the NHS Staff Survey. This is the third set of national staff survey results published since the EDI Improvement plan was launched in summer 2023 and it continues to be important for trusts and NHS organisations to track their local staff urvey results against the EDI plan. We have indicated where an HIA is relevant throughout this briefing.  

This briefing gives a summary of the national-level findings, and NHS Providers’ and NHS Confederation’s view. If you have any comments or questions on this briefing, please contact Sarah White, senior policy manager (workforce), sarah.white@nhsproviders.org. 

Analysis 

Burnout, health and wellbeing 

Workload and staffing pressures 

Metrics relating to workload and pressures are worse than last year. 

  • 31.47 per cent of staff feel burnt out because of their work; 36.51 per cent say their work frustrates them, and 28.51 per cent feel exhausted at the thought of another day at work. These metrics are all at three-year highs. 
  • 32.83 per cent of staff say there are enough staff at their organisation for them to do their job properly, down from 33.98 per cent last year. The 10 Year Workforce Plan must address this finding that more than two-thirds of staff report that they are unable to do their job properly due to staffing levels. 
  • Only 46.51 per cent of staff are able to meet all the conflicting demands on their time at work; only 56.06 per cent say they have adequate materials, supplies and equipment to do their work; and only 26.40 per cent never or rarely have unrealistic time pressures. All of these metrics are at three-year lows.  

There is also an ongoing and notable decline in discretionary additional effort. 

  • Staff working additional paid hours continues to decline, with 31.72 per cent reporting doing so. Last year the same metric was 30.05 per cent, 2023 was 36.78 per cent, and 2022 was 38.41 per cent. 
  • Staff working additional unpaid hours continues to decline, with 49.4 per cent reporting doing so. Last year the same metric was 50.28 per cent, 2023 was 52.82 per cent, and 2022 was 56.62 per cent.  

While organisations must never rely on unpaid work from staff, the clear loss of good will and increase in workload pressure across the board will be impacting productivity levels.  

Physical and mental wellbeing 

Results on burnout, work-life balance and work-related stress remain worryingly high and speak to ongoing high levels of demand outstripping the pace of care delivery. They are likely also impacted by headcount reduction initiatives across many trusts in the past year, in line with financial savings targets. 

  • Staff reporting being unwell due to work-related stress rose from 41.65 per cent to 42.36 per cent this year. 56.01 per cent of staff have gone into work in the last three months despite not feeling well enough to perform their duties, slightly up from 55.77 per cent last year. The only time this indicator has been higher in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic peaks (56.69 per cent in 2022). 
  • Only 54.80 per cent say their organisation takes positive action on health and wellbeing, a notable drop from 57.05 per cent last year and the lowest this metric has ever been – by almost 2 percentage points.  

It is good that levels of reported bullying and harassment and violence against staff are improving, as it enables the scale of the problem to be better identified. However, this remains concerningly high. 

  • 14.47 per cent of NHS staff report being physically attacked by a patient or the public last year, the highest rate for three years. 
  • 25.25 per cent report at least one incident of harassment, bullying or abuse in the last 12 months from patients or the public. This has been persistently high, peaking at 27.86 per cent in 2022. 
  • Instances of the same from managers and other colleagues are now at their lowest recorded levels, 9.11 per cent and 17.01 per cent respectively. We look forward to these metrics continuing to drop.  

This is the third year that a question was included about staff experience of access to food while working, which 54.67 per cent say they often or always have access to food. 

  • This is a three-year high, 54.12 per cent last year and 53.67 per cent in 2023. 
  • Community trusts continue to have the highest proportion of staff who can ‘often’ or 'always’ eat affordable food while working (62.32 per cent), and ambulance trusts continue to have the lowest (45.90 per cent, though this is a marked improvement on 42.82 per cent for ambulance trusts last year). 

NHSE EDI improvement plan

High Impact Action 4 calls for trusts and NHS organisations to develop and implement a wellbeing improvement plan to address health inequalities within the workforce. One success metric for this is linked to improvements on NHS Staff Survey questions related to organisational action on health and wellbeing.

High Impact Action 6 calls for trusts and NHS organisations to create an environment that eliminates bullying, discrimination, harassment and physical violence. Success metrics from the NHS Staff Survey are linked to improvements on questions on bullying, harassment and abuse from managers or other colleagues, as well as questions on discrimination from the same groups.

Physical and mental wellbeing 

Results on burnout, work-life balance and work-related stress remain worryingly high and speak to ongoing high levels of demand outstripping the pace of care delivery. They are likely also impacted by headcount reduction initiatives across many trusts in the past year, in line with financial savings targets. 

  • Staff reporting being unwell due to work-related stress rose from 41.65 per cent to 42.36 per cent this year. 56.01 per cent of staff have gone into work in the last three months despite not feeling well enough to perform their duties, slightly up from 55.77 per cent last year. The only time this indicator has been higher in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic peaks (56.69 per cent in 2022). 
  • Only 54.80 per cent say their organisation takes positive action on health and wellbeing, a notable drop from 57.05 per cent last year and the lowest this metric has ever been – by almost 2 percentage points.  

It is good that levels of reported bullying and harassment and violence against staff are improving, as it enables the scale of the problem to be better identified. However, this remains concerningly high. 

  • 14.47 per cent of NHS staff report being physically attacked by a patient or the public last year, the highest rate for three years. 
  • 25.25 per cent report at least one incident of harassment, bullying or abuse in the last 12 months from patients or the public. This has been persistently high, peaking at 27.86 per cent in 2022. 
  • Instances of the same from managers and other colleagues are now at their lowest recorded levels, 9.11 per cent and 17.01 per cent respectively. We look forward to these metrics continuing to drop.  

This is the third year that a question was included about staff experience of access to food while working, which 54.67 per cent say they often or always have access to food. 

  • This is a three-year high, 54.12 per cent last year and 53.67 per cent in 2023. 
  • Community trusts continue to have the highest proportion of staff who can ‘often’ or 'always’ eat affordable food while working (62.32 per cent), and ambulance trusts continue to have the lowest (45.90 per cent, though this is a marked improvement on 42.82 per cent for ambulance trusts last year). 

NHSE EDI improvement plan

High Impact Action 2 calls for trusts and NHS organisations to overhaul their recruitment processes and embed talent management processes that target under-presented groups. One success metric is linked to improvements on NHS Staff Survey questions related to access to career progression, training and development opportunities.

High Impact Action 5 calls for trusts and NHS organisations to implement comprehensive induction, onboarding and development programmes for internationally recruited staff. The success metrics linked to this from the NHS Staff Survey include improvements on questions related to a sense of belonging for internationally recruited staff and a reduction in bullying, harassment and abuse experienced by these staff by managers and teams.

Quality of care and working environment 

This is the second year that a question relating to ease of accessing clinical supervision was included in the NHS Staff Survey, and it is positive to see that over half of staff (58.96 per cent) feel able to access clinical supervision opportunities when needed (a slight drop from 59.26 per cent last year). This measure was highest for staff at mental health & learning disability and mental health, learning disability and community trusts (77.88 per cent). It was again lowest for ambulance trusts (46.18 per cent, broadly similar to 46.04 per cent last year).  

It is critical that staff are able to access suitable clinical supervision when needed. We would like to see details on ambitions for the educator workforce included in the upcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan. At the time of writing, this Plan still has no publication date.  

The picture regarding the quality of care given to patients is much more worrying. 

  • 62.84 per cent of staff say that if their friend or relative needed treatment, they would be happy with the standard of care provided by their organisation, down from 64.26 per cent last year. This is the lowest this metric has ever been (62.88 per cent in 2022). 
  • 69.18 per cent agree that their organisation acts on concerns raised by patients, down from 70.90 per cent in 2024 and similar to 2022’s score of 69.15 per cent. 
  • The ‘raising concerns’ theme score is at a five-year low: 
  • While there has only been a slight drop to 71.10 per cent of staff saying they would feel secure raising concerns about unsafe clinical practice (71.56 per cent last year), and it remains high overall, this metric has seen year on year decline and of concern, it is currently the lowest it has ever been.  
  • A more immediate concern is that only 55.49 per cent of staff are confident that their organisation would address their clinical concern once raised. That is a notable drop from 56.82 per cent last year, and the lowest it’s ever been – by more than 1 percentage point.  

While local Freedom to Speak Up Guardian roles remain mandatory, we note that the National Guardian’s Office in England, which supports whistleblowers and oversees local guardians, will close in 2026, with its functions moving to NHS England. How this will work in practice is currently unclear but it is vital, particularly in light of these results, that speak-up systems are robust and well-supported at every level of the system. It is also worth noting that, in the 10 Year Health Plan, there was a commitment that 'for senior leaders who let their profession and colleagues down – whether through dishonest behaviour, by silencing whistleblowers or covering up unsafe practice – we will legislate to establish a new system to disbar them from ever taking leadership roles in the NHS again.'  

Despite the above findings, overall approaches to patient care remain fairly well-regarded by staff, albeit with drops from last year: 

  • 71.78 per cent say that care of patients is their organisation's top priority, a notable drop from 74.37 per cent in 2024 and 75.14 per cent in 2023. 
  • 87.78 per cent of staff feel their role makes a difference to patients, broadly equivalent to 2024’s score of 87.81 per cent.  

This year’s report contains the fourth dataset of year-on-year comparator of measures related to patient safety, with some clear trends emerging. The report shows a similar but very slowly increasing level of staff seeing errors, near misses or incidents that could have hurt staff and/or patients/service users. It should be noted that this does not necessarily mean poorer safety, as the results may indicate a better reporting culture.  

There is a slight drop this year in the perception of fair treatment of staff who are involved in errors, near misses and incidents, and in receiving feedback about changes made in response to such incidents being reported. Results across the years suggest a persistent gap between reporting incidents and staff seeing clear organisational learning or change. Specifically:  

  • 33.71 per cent of staff reported seeing errors, near misses or incidents that could have hurt staff and/or patients/service users. This is compared to 33.64 per cent last year, and 33.5 per cent in 2023.  
  • As in all previous years, the percentage of staff reporting these incidents is highest at ambulance trusts (38.88 per cent), and lowest in community trusts (24.65 per cent).  
  • Since 2021, all trust types have seen an increase in staff seeing errors, near misses or incidents except for acute, and community trusts who have seen slight decreases. 
  • 86.16 per cent of staff say their organisation encourages staff to report errors (broadly in line with 86.43 per cent last year, and 86.41 per cent in 2023). 
  • 59.29 per cent believe their organisation treats staff involved in incidents fairly (broadly in line with 59.72 per cent last year, and 59.5 per cent in 2023).  
  • As in all previous years, staff working in community trusts are the most likely to agree that their organisation treats staff involved in incidents fairly (67.66 per cent), and ambulance trusts the least likely (49.76 per cent). 
  • 67.30 per cent of respondents agreed that their organisation takes action to ensure that reported incidents, errors or near misses do not happen again. This is a drop from 68.19 per cent last year, and 96.20 per cent the year before that. 
  • As in all previous years, the ambulance sector sees the lowest proportion of respondents agreeing that their organisation takes action to ensure reported incidents do not happen again (54.79 per cent), while staff at community trusts are the most likely to agree (75.91 per cent). 
  • 61.02 per cent of staff reported that they were given feedback about the changes that are made in response to reported errors, near misses and incidents, broadly in line with 61.28 per cent last year. 
  • 68.63 per cent of staff at community trusts (highest scoring) reported receiving feedback about changes made in response to a reported error, compared to 48.68 per cent of staff at ambulance trusts (lowest scoring). These percentages are both slight increases on the same results last year.  

Sexual harassment 

This was the third year that the NHS Staff Survey contained questions on experiences of unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature in the workplace. This means that year-on-year comparisons are beginning to show trends. It is also worth noting that across 2024, 100 per cent of NHS trusts have signed up to the NHSE Sexual Safety Charter, a national NHS commitment to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace.  

When asked about their experience of unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature from colleagues, 3.51 per cent of staff reported that an incident had taken place in the last 12 months. This compares favourably to 3.67 per cent last year, and 3.86 per cent in 2023. The downward trajectory is very welcome.   

Results regarding unwanted sexual behaviour from patients or the public have increased from last year, after two years at broadly the same level. This may indicate a better reporting culture, following focus from NHS England on this topic across 2024-25. 9.07 per cent of staff report experiencing unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature from patients or the public (8.85 per cent last year), rising very sharply to 31.05 per cent for ambulance staff (an increase from 28.79 per cent last year). Interventions must clearly be made sector-specific in order to address this.  

It is important to build an open culture where staff feel confident in raising issues and concerns. This year’s results still show that a relatively high percentage of staff (60.29 per cent) feel safe to speak up about anything that concerns them, although this represents a decrease since 2023 (61.83 per cent) and is in fact the lowest this metric has ever been. The bigger worry is that only 47.59 per cent of staff report that they are confident their organisation would then address their concern – a notable drop from 49.51 per cent last year and again, the lowest this metric has ever been.  

Flexible working 

NHSE’s 2025 analysis of the outcomes of the People Promise Exemplar Programme (Cohort 1) showed that implementing flexible working directly contributed towards improved leaver rates, given that work-life balance is a common reason staff leave the NHS, and staff are increasingly seeking opportunities to work in more flexible ways. We therefore hope to see continued prioritisation of national enablers to flexible working in the upcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan, as positive progress is reflected in NHS Staff Survey findings: 

  • 56.63 per cent of staff report a good balance between their work life and their home life, a slight increase from 56.58 per cent last year. 
  • 71.75 per cent can approach their immediate manager to talk openly about flexible working, also a slight increase from last year’s finding of 71.29 per cent, and an all-time high for this metric. 
  • 57.66 per cent are satisfied with the opportunities they have for flexible working patterns, also an all-time high. 
  • This measure was highest for staff at acute trusts (67.45 per cent) and mental health & learning disability and mental health, learning disability and community trusts (66.45 per cent). 
  • This measure was lowest for ambulance trusts (40.98 per cent for the second year running).  

Pay, recognition and management 

Career development 

Appraisal completion is the highest it’s ever been at 86.42 per cent (85.42 per cent last year). However, low proportions of staff perceive their appraisals as having valuable impact: 

  • 26.01 per cent feel it helped them to improve how they do their job (26.04 per cent last year). 
  • 35.32 per cent feel it helped them to agree clear objectives for their work (35.53 per cent last year). 
  • 32.86 per cent say it left them feeling that their work is valued by their organisation (33.41 per cent last year). 

Appraisals are a key focus of the 10 Year Workforce Plan currently in development, and it will be interesting to see if a new national approach is set for the process. We believe that this must avoid being a box-ticking exercise and should be folded meaningfully into day-to-day work rather than used as an annual yardstick.  

The picture of staff learning and development is concerning. 

  • The proportion of staff who say there are opportunities for them to develop their career in their organisation is at its lowest ever level, 51.15 per cent (54.65 per cent last year). 
  • 68.47 per cent say they have opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills, a notable drop from 70.35 per cent last year. 
  • Only 55.24 per cent feel supported to develop their potential (56.91 per cent last year), and 58.24 per cent are able to access the right learning and development opportunities when they need to (60.02 per cent last year). Both of these metrics are at three-year lows.  

Continuing professional development is important for staff retention and for good-quality care. The drop in all metrics on learning and development must be urgently addressed. The 10 Year Workforce Plan provides a potentially pivotal moment to change this.  

Relationship with managers and teams 

It is encouraging that metrics relating to immediate managers remain positive. 

  • The metrics for staff agreeing that their immediate manager encourages them, and values their work, are the highest they’ve ever been at 73.04 per cent and 72.84 per cent respectively. 
  • 72.65 per cent of staff believe that their immediate manager is interested in listening to them when they describe challenges they face, a slight increase from 72.57 per cent last year. 
  • 68.8 per cent say their immediate manager takes effective action to help them with any problems they face, broadly in line with 2024’s result of 68.12 per cent. 
  • 66.55 per cent say their immediate manager gives them clear feedback on their work (66.26 per cent last year), and this metric has gone up across every single staff group. 
  • 60.05 per cent say their immediate manager asks for their opinion before making decisions that affect their work, which is an all-time high.  

Findings on autonomy and trust within individual roles are also broadly positive. The percentage of staff who always know what their responsibilities are is high, at 86.06 per cent (86.00 per cent last year). The percentage of staff who feel trusted to do their job also remains high, but has continued its year-on-year decline and now sits at 89.38 per cent (2024: 89.73 per cent, 2023: 90.15 per cent, 2022: 90.31 per cent, 2021: 90.46 per cent). This is a worrying trend and must not become any more entrenched.  

It is significant that there has been a drop in terms of staff feeling like they are involved in deciding changes introduced that affect their work (48.63 per cent down from 50.12 per cent), as well as in staff feeling able to make improvements happen in their work (54.16 per cent down from 55.18 per cent). It has long been known that staff involvement is one of the strongest predictors of successful and sustained improvement in healthcare, and when staff are disengaged or disempowered, organisations risk losing vital frontline insights when making decisions on how best to improve quality of care. This decline is also significant from a cultural perspective, as high performing trust cultures are ones where staff feel heard, trusted and empowered to shape the conditions in which they work. Staff who feel powerless disengage from their work, which is an issue for patient safety, staff morale and organisational improvement.   

There is a mixed picture when it comes to team dynamics. 

  • 80.36 per cent of staff enjoy working with the colleagues in their team. This is high, and hasn’t dropped much from 80.79 per cent last year, but it is the lowest result on record for this metric (81.61 per cent in 2023, 81.61 per cent in 2022, and 81.50 per cent in 2021). 
  • The number of staff who feel valued by their team is broadly unchanged at 69.62 per cent. Since 2022 this metric has hovered within 1 percentage point of 70 per cent. Staff who report that the people they work with are polite and treat each other with respect has dropped to 71.23 per cent (71.70 last year), which is the lowest it’s ever been. This tallies with the finding that 71.48 per cent of staff feel they receive the respect they deserve from their colleagues at work (71.57 per cent last year), but this is the second highest recorded outcome for this metric. 
  • The number of staff who say their team has a set of shared objectives remains high at 73.56 per cent (73.58 per cent last year), 62.65 per cent say their team often meets to discuss the team’s effectiveness (62.76 per cent last year). However, only 53.73 per cent feel teams within their organisation work well together to achieve their objectives (54.32 per cent last year).  

Pay and reward 

Findings on pay come against a backdrop (at the time of writing) of ongoing national disputes between government and all NHS unions, local disputes between various unions and employers, negotiations between government and resident doctors, a slightly sub-inflation pay award for Agenda for Change staff announced in time for April (rather than into the financial year, as has been customary), continued delay to Agenda for Change reform,  and climbing costs of living which required a revised OBR forecast in early 2025.  

Only 32.14 per cent of staff are satisfied with their level of pay. This broadly the same as last year (32.09 per cent), still demonstrating that more than two thirds of staff feel their pay is dissatisfactory. Pay levels in the NHS remain a key concern for trust leaders, particularly given ongoing industrial disputes at national and local levels.  

Alongside this, there has been a drop in staff satisfaction with the extent to which their organisation values their work, at 42.95 per cent (44.41 per cent last year).  

Engagement, motivation and morale 

Many measures relating to staff engagement and motivation are at their lowest on record. 

  • Just over half (52.32 per cent) of staff look forward to going to work, a notable drop from 54.23 per cent last year, and 66.32 per cent are enthusiastic about their job, a notable drop from 68.07 per cent last year. These metrics are both at their lowest level on record. 
  • 58.05 per cent of staff would recommend the NHS as a place to work compared to 60.79 per cent in 2024. The only time this metric has been lower was in 2022, at 57.38 per cent. 
  • 54.16 per cent of staff feel able to make improvements happen in their area of work, a notable drop from 55.18 per cent last year and the second lowest that the metric has ever been (53.21 per cent in 2021). 
  • The percentage of staff who say they are able to make suggestions to improve the work of their team or department has seen a year on year decline and now sits at 69.94 per cent (2024: 70.84 per cent, 2023: 71.62 per cent, 2022: 70.97 per cent, 2021: 70.41 per cent).  
  • 48.63 per cent of staff say they are involved in deciding on changes introduced that affect their work area. This is a notable drop from 50.12 per cent last year, and the metric is now the lowest it’s ever been.  

This across-the-board drop in motivation and engagement is a worrying trend. The picture on morale is similarly concerning: 

  • 29.55 per cent say they often think about leaving this organisation, up from 28.84 per cent and a three-year high. 
  • This metric is highest in ambulance trusts, at 37.09 per cent. 
  • This metric is lowest in community trusts, at 26.13 per cent. However, this is still more than one-in-four staff. 
  • Similar to last year (21.44 per cent), 21.43 per cent of staff say they will probably look for a job at a new organisation in the next 12 months. 
  • 16.75 per cent say that they will leave their organisation as soon as they can find another job, up from 16.08 per cent last year and an all-time high. 

Key actions for members 

The 10 Year Workforce Plan is due to set targets for the NHS to become the country’s best employer, not just the biggest. Challenging findings on staff engagement, motivation and morale paint a clear picture of how far off these targets are, set against a backdrop of ongoing national industrial disputes, and significant funding constraints. Our members take seriously their duty to improve the workplace experience for their staff and will continue to focus their efforts on this work. NHS England and government must enable this through the provision of appropriate funding, training places, and physical working environments.  

Do engage with your organisation’s own NHS Staff Survey results, use the interactive dashboard to delineate results by protected characteristics and working patterns, and make full use of NHS Employers’ support to address areas of concern. If you have any comments or questions on this briefing, or suggestions for NHS Providers and NHS Confederation’s onward workforce policy influencing, please contact Sarah White, senior policy manager (workforce), sarah.white@nhsproviders.org.  

We encourage members to make particular provision within their organisations to protect focused work and expertise on equality, diversity, and inclusion. Workplace equality is extremely important to both staff and patient experience.  

How we are supporting members 

We continue to lobby on members’ behalf regarding all areas of workforce policy. We are representing our members’ views in the development of the 10 Year Workforce Plan, lobbying for the reform of Agenda for Change, and have supported NHS England with work to improve resident doctors’ working lives. 

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