Research shows half of NHS workers have looked for jobs outside healthcare, despite high workloads and stress levels
Nearly half of NHS workers have spent time looking at job vacancies for work outside the service, according to a new analysis.
Around 47 per cent have looked at work outside the NHS and 29 per cent have actively inquired about work outside the NHS, researchers found.
According to academics at the University of Bath, around 14 per cent applied for non-NHS jobs between March and June 2023.
Researchers say stress, workload, staff shortages and wages are the main reasons why staff leave the NHS.
The research team raised concerns about burnout after almost one in two (47 percent) NHS workers reported feeling ‘very tired or exhausted’ most days or every day.
Nearly half of NHS workers have spent time looking at vacancies for work outside the service (Stock Image)
According to academics, around 14 per cent applied for non-NHS jobs between March and June 2023 (Stock Image)
And job satisfaction ratings have fallen in the four years that experts have been tracking the views of NHS workers. From 2020 onwards, employees have been interviewed in ‘waves’.
In the latest poll, YouGov surveyed around 1,500 staff in England on behalf of researchers.
Overall, just 37 percent of staff surveyed in spring 2023 said they would recommend others to work for the NHS, down from 61 percent in winter 2020/21.
Only one in four (26 percent) nurses said they would recommend working in healthcare.
Lead researcher on the study, Dr Andrew Weyman, said: ‘Increasing reports of resource shortages, psychological stress, symptoms of burnout, linked to low confidence in improving working conditions, in the context of pay dissatisfaction and signs of a weakening of staff commitment to the NHS are particularly worrying.
‘(They) may provide an explanation for the significant decline in the proportion of staff who would recommend others to work for the NHS.’
Last year, the health department launched its first Long Term Workforce Plan with the aim of increasing workforce numbers and retaining current staff.
Dr. Navina Evans, Chief Workforce Officer at NHS England, said: ‘The latest NHS staff survey found that staff feel happier than they have since the start of the pandemic, but we know there is more work to do to keep our hardworking NHS staff to retain and support them to stay in healthcare longer.
‘(This) is why we are offering more flexible working options than ever before, and are taking action to reduce double inductions and pay errors, while new rules ensure employees can earn a salary while still receiving their NHS pension.
‘Our pension and return schemes also help the NHS to retain highly experienced staff for longer, and as part of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan we continue to expand domestic education, training and recruitment – and have already made significant progress with a 25 percent increase in medical places.”