Nearly a fifth of NHS staff want to quit as soon as they find another job, survey finds

Nearly a fifth of NHS staff want to leave the health service as soon as they find another job, a survey has revealed.

The NHS Staff Survey for England found that 17 per cent of staff would quit the NHS immediately if another role became available – a rise of 3 per cent in two years.

Around a quarter (23.7 per cent) said they would probably look for a job at a new organisation in the next 12 months, with sharp increases seen among nursing staff.

Nearly a third (32.3 per cent) said they “often think” about leaving the health service, while almost half (44.8 per cent) said they reported feeling unwell as a result of work-related stress in the past year. The latter figure was up 7 per cent in four years.

Just over a quarter (26.4 per cent) felt there were enough staff at their organisation for them to do their job properly.

The survey, which is one of the largest workforce surveys in the world, received responses from 636,348 staff through data-gathering at the end of 2022.

The results lay bare the extent of dissatisfaction among NHS staff over pay amid a wave of industrial action this winter.

Nurses, paramedics and physiotherapists have all staged strike action with a 72-hour walkout by junior doctors planned from next Monday. Health unions have demanded a pay rise at least matching inflation to shield staff from the cost of living crisis.

Just a quarter (25.6 per cent) of NHS staff were satisfied with their level of pay, according to the survey. This was down 10 per cent on the figure reported in 2018.

Some 62.9 per cent were happy with the standard of care provided by their organisation in 2022, down from 67.8 per cent the previous year, 74.2 per cent in 2020 and 71.5 per cent in 2019.

The greatest decline was seen in the proportion of staff agreeing that if a friend or relative needed treatment, they would be happy with the standard of care provided by their workplace.

The report said some 62.9 per cent agreed with this, “which is down 4.8 percentage points, and is now 11.3 percentage points lower than in 2020”.

Separate figures released last week showed that almost one in seven nursing posts are vacant in London – the highest total of any region in England.

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, part of the NHS Confederation, said: “It is no surprise given that we have now witnessed several months of industrial action by NHS staff that those same staff, who have worked through extraordinary challenges over the past few years, have expressed their feelings of deep frustration in these responses.

“It is of course concerning to see that 17 per cent of staff considering leaving for another job will do so as soon as they find one and that, despite the continuing efforts of health leaders to recruit and retain employees, the numbers of those willing to recommend the NHS as an employer has also dropped. This is reinforced by the responses to staff satisfaction on pay.”

He added that the health service “must not shy away from the fact that so many of our people tell us and the government that they cannot work to their best of their abilities”.

“NHS leaders are urgently calling for the government to invest in a long promised and much overdue workforce plan and to detail how they will fill these gaps.

“Until staff know help is coming, their overall satisfaction with the NHS will not improve.”