NHS Staff Survey in England
Background to the NHS Staff Survey
NHS England took ownership of the NHS Staff Survey from the Department of Health in April 2013. Previously, from 2003 to 2009, the Care Quality Commission and its predecessor the Healthcare Commission owned the survey.
The NHS Staff Survey results are predominantly aimed at NHS organisations, to inform local improvements in staff experience and well-being.
The Staff Survey offers a snapshot in time of how people experience their working lives, gathered at the same time each year. Its strength is in capturing a national picture alongside local detail, enabling NHS England to explore staff experience across different parts of the NHS and work to bring about the necessary improvements.
The results are also used by NHS England to support national assessments of quality and safety. The Care Quality Commission uses the results to inform their Intelligent Monitoring work to help to decide who, where and what to inspect.
2023 NHS Staff Survey results publication
The 2023 NHS Staff Survey results published at 9:30am on Thursday 7 March 2024 on the Staff Survey Coordination Centre website.
This is the third year the NHS Staff Survey results have been aligned with the seven elements of the People Promise, which sets out in the words of our NHS people what would make the NHS the best place to work. This means most of the 2023 results can be compared to previous years, whilst many of the questions and the two themes (Engagement and Morale) have longer trend data.
We are unable to report some results in the 2023 NHS Staff Survey
This relates to an issue with the quality of the data that was identified close to the publication date. This is currently being investigated by the Survey Coordination Centre and NHS England in line with our commitment to ensuring that the results from the survey are of the highest quality.
Specifically, we have identified a higher than expected rate of missing data for a set of questions in the survey – Q13a-d. Further investigation has determined that this is associated with staff completing the online survey using a specific type of device. For respondents at some organisations working with one of the main providers of survey services, questions 13 a to d were not always presented as expected where those respondents were using an iPhone to complete the survey. This is the first time an issue of this nature has arisen and affects only a minority of respondents.
2023 results for the following four questions cannot be reported:
- Q13a – In the last 12 months how many times have you personally experienced physical violence at work from patients/service users, their relatives, or other members of the public.
- Q13b – In the last 12 months how many times have you personally experienced physical violence at work from managers.
- Q13c – In the last 12 months how many times have you personally experienced physical violence at work from other colleagues.
- Q13d – The last time you experienced physical violence at work, did you or a colleague report it?
2023 results for the following two People Promise element sub-scores cannot be reported:
- “Negative experiences”, which uses questions 13a, 13b and 13c in its calculation.
- “Health and safety climate”, which uses question 13d in its calculation.
The “Burnout” sub-score remains unaffected, and 2023 results for this measure will be reported alongside 2019-2022 historical data.
2023 results for the following People Promise element score cannot be reported:
- “We are safe and healthy”, which uses the “Negative experiences” and “Health and safety climate” sub-scores in its calculation.
Please note:
- 2023 results for these measures cannot be reported on at any level at this time (national, benchmarking group, region, ICS, or organisation).
- Once the issue has been fully investigated, it may be possible to release some results at organisation and aggregate level. An update on this will be provided as soon as possible.
- Historical results (2019 to 2022) for these measures are unaffected and will continue to be reported at all levels.
- A similar issue may also have affected the NHS Staff Survey for bank only workers. This is also being investigated.
Further to receiving local data, each organisation received its benchmark report under embargo on Tuesday 20 February 2024. These reports are now also published on the Staff Survey Coordination Centre website.
The views of bank-only staff were again collected in a separate tailored survey. For 2023, organisations with more than 200 bank-only staff were mandated to take part. Other organisations were able to participate on a voluntary basis. As such, findings are not directly comparable with the main NHS Staff Survey results.
The results for the 2023 NHS Staff Survey for bank only workers (NSSB) will be released on the same website in April. The results for the voluntary 2023 General Practice Staff Survey (GPSS) are being released directly to participating organisations and will not be published by NHS England.
If you have any questions, please contact the Staff Survey Coordination Centre: nhsstaffsurvey@surveycoordination.com
Contact Us
For further information, please contact: england.feedback-data@nhs.net