The importance of rest and self-care should be clearly communicated and modelled ‘by leaders at every level’ in the NHS, an influential think-tank has said.
Fair pay, quick resolution of industrial disputes and ring-fenced funding for staff mental health services are among 10 recommendations by the King’s Fund to tackle the NHS workforce crisis.
In a briefing to politicians, the think-tank also said NHS workplaces should be supported to improve workplace culture with an emphasis on taking breaks.
It added that morale and burnout must be tackled in order to improve patient care and address high vacancy rates across the NHS.
Excessive workloads, conflicting demands on time and unrealistic time pressures are commonplace leading to sickness and absence as well as staff leaving the profession, their report said.
It said: ‘Organisational cultures across the NHS contribute to the burnout, mental distress and exhaustion that staff experience.
‘Staff tend to regularly miss breaks at work due to feelings of guilt and a sense of responsibility to colleagues and patients – a huge danger in the context of chronic excessive workloads.’
In addition, many NHS workplaces are not designed to make best use of staff skills or to protect their health and wellbeing, with staff often unable to access nutritious meals, adequate space for breaks and rest, and toilets when needed, it added.
To improve working conditions, minimum standards for facilities, working conditions and scheduling should be mandated across the health service.
Their briefing added: ‘Government support to improve culture should also emphasise the importance of breaks and rest, self-care and decompression as a key priority and an equitable component of practice. This must be clearly communicated and modelled by leaders at every level.’
Expectations should be set for how local leaders listen to staff and take steps to address systemic or cultural issues in their place of work. Pay, terms and conditions also need to be prioritised, the briefing said.
This includes paying closer attention to the ‘impact of inflation and cost of living increases on staff, and to levels of pay across the NHS and how they compare with other sectors’.
Disputes should be resolved as soon as possible ‘for the sake of those who rely on and work in the NHS’, it added.
Prolonged industrial disputes risk a long-term scarring effect on morale, and risk friction between staff groups taking action and those not involved, it noted.
King’s Fund policy advisor Jessica Holden wrote: ‘Workforce challenges across the NHS are on a huge scale, largely entrenched, and varied across sectors and services.
‘The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan was an important step forward in terms of targets for workforce numbers and needs, but had less to say on retention.
‘While the recommendations provided in this briefing will not provide the solution to all staff morale issues, there are some early steps the new government can take to boost morale, make the NHS a more attractive place for people to remain working in, and create better conditions for NHS staff to work safely, efficiently and effectively.’
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