Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

NHSStressMusculoskeletal disordersWellbeing

Four in 10 NHS staff unwell with work-related stress

by Ashleigh Webber 15 Mar 2021
by Ashleigh Webber 15 Mar 2021 Shutterstock
Shutterstock

The proportion of NHS staff feeling unwell as a result of work-related stress continued to rise last year, particularly in acute care.

Forty-four per cent of respondents to the 2020 NHS staff survey felt unwell because of work-related stress, compared with 40.3% who said the same in 2019. In 2016, the figure was 36.8%.

Working in the NHS

Nurses call for any NHS return to ‘normal’ not to overlook wellbeing

NHS to launch mental health hubs for health workers

MPs want ‘long Covid’ compensation for frontline workers

Increases in stress levels were sharpest in acute community trusts and acute specialist trusts as patient numbers rose during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some 46.4% had worked while feeling unwell at some point in the three months preceding the survey. This is notably fewer than in previous years (56.6% in 2019), suggesting that many soldiered on in what was a challenging year for the health service.

There was also a slight increase in the proportion of employees experiencing musculoskeletal problems as a result of their work. In 2020 these were faced by 29.3% of staff, up from 28% in 2019 and 25.2% in 2016.

Commenting on the findings, Dr Rob Harwood, chair of the British Medical Association’s consultants committee, said: “These findings underline the intense pressure NHS staff have been under this last year, and the severe impact that this has had on their health and wellbeing.

“As vast swathes of the country stayed at home, healthcare workers continued to go to work. Not only were many coming face-to-face with a deadly virus, often without adequate protection, but a large proportion were working in unfamiliar environments as they agreed to be redeployed to other roles so as to better respond to the pandemic.”

Harwood said NHS staff “have dealt with death and illness on a scale the NHS was completely unprepared for”, which often included their own friends and colleagues.

“Given this backdrop, and with more than half of staff telling today’s survey that they’re working extra hours unpaid on a weekly basis, it’s no surprise that one in five respondents say they are planning on leaving the NHS entirely,” he said.

“Rather than placing further expectation and demand on an already exhausted and burnt out workforce, the government must be forthcoming with the additional resource and support – including a fair pay deal – to ensure staff can manage, and take the rest and breaks they need and are entitled to.”

Despite the pressures, the survey’s health and wellbeing “theme score” rose to 6.1 from 5.9 in 2018/19 and 6.0 in 2016/17.

A third (33.4%) said their trust definitely takes positive action on health and wellbeing, up from 29.3% in 2019, and 57% were satisfied with opportunities for flexible working (54% in 2019).

Eight in 10 felt safe at work, although this was lower among staff with long-term health conditions (72.4%) and ethnic minority workers (78.8%).

Some 595,270 staff spanning 280 NHS organisations took part in the survey. It ran between September and December 2020.

Ashleigh Webber
Ashleigh Webber

Ashleigh is editor at OHW+ and part of the Personnel Today editorial team. Prior to joining Personnel Today in 2018, she covered the road transport sector for Commercial Motor and Motor Transport.

previous post
Banker seeking ‘stigma losses’ after tribunal impact
next post
Lastminute.com: How communication helped the switch to remote working

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

You may also like

NHS should upskill admin staff to reduce waiting...

23 May 2022

Occupational health key to helping employers manage long...

23 May 2022

Three in 10 say physical health has worsened...

20 May 2022

Nurses leaving due to pressure and workplace culture

18 May 2022

Crumbling school buildings ‘risk to life’ suggests leak

16 May 2022

The seven dimensions of wellness at work (webinar)

13 May 2022

Workers feeing increasingly anxious, burnt out and fearful...

13 May 2022

Spain plans menstrual leave for painful periods

13 May 2022

How employers can support women during the HRT...

13 May 2022

What it really means to be mentally fit

13 May 2022

  • The importance of being an ethical leader and how to become one PROMOTED | What is ethical leadership?...Read more
  • RPO Report: 2022, The Year to Outsource PROMOTED | Employers should be overwhelmed with choice...Read more
  • Report: Enabling organisational agility through talent & people success PROMOTED | Work has been challenged...Read more
  • Employee Trends 2022 report PROMOTED | Edenred research on employees analysed the key employees’ trends for 2022...Read more
  • How finance apprenticeships can boost business PROMOTED | As the world’s most forward-thinking professional accountancy body...Read more
  • Paul Devoy: Showing appreciation to the Investors in People community PROMOTED | Ask most people what comes to mind when you mention Investors in People...Read more
  • White paper: How digitalisation can support evolving occupational health PROMOTED | Download this free white paper to discover how digitalisation can help occupational health meet emerging challenges...Read more

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+