Almost 10% of NHS staff experience discrimination from managers, survey says

Concerns have emerged after the 2023 NHS staff survey revealed that members of staff have suffered from discrimination, health issues and feeling unwell as a result of stress at work.

The findings of the annual survey were published last week after 1.4 million NHS staff members were invited to participate. This year, 707,460 people responded, but the figures raise concerns about some elements of their employment.

The NHS Staff Survey is one of the largest workforce surveys in the world and has been conducted every year since 2003.

268 NHS organisations took part, including all 213 trusts in England, as staff were either sent an email containing a link to the online survey or a paper questionnaire along with a letter containing a QR code for the online survey.

But despite some improvements from last year, including staff feeling like they make a difference to patients, and 60% saying would recommend their organisation as a place to work, concerns have been raised about staff health, wellbeing and culture.

Stress

According to the statistics, many NHS staff members may be on the brink of burnout as only a third (32%) of staff said there are enough staff at their organisation for them to do their job properly, and more than half said they are not able to of staff can meet all the conflicting demands on their time at work.

Health concerns for staff members can also be seen in the report as 40% said they have felt unwell as a result of work-related stress in the last 12 months, and nearly a third (28%) have experienced musculoskeletal problems as a result of work activities.

But despite suffering from ill health, more than half (54%) said they have gone to work in the last three months despite not feeling well enough to perform their duties.

Discrimination

Concerns have also been raised about people experiencing discrimination at work. Discrimination in the workplace is when you are being treated unfairly at work because of who you are. This could include your gender, sexuality or religion and it could be from any employee including managers and colleagues.

According to the survey, nearly 10% reported experiencing discrimination from management, team leaders or colleagues and almost 9% had experienced discrimination from patients, relatives or members of the public.

Harassment, Bullying and abuse

Figures also show more than a quarter of staff experienced at least one incident of harassment, bullying or abuse in the past year. More than 10% experienced this from managers, nearly 20% from other colleagues, and a quarter of respondents said they had experienced this from patients, relatives or members of the public.

Pay 

Just a third of staff said they were satisfied with their level of pay.

NHS workers including junior doctors and healthcare assistants have been striking over pay since 2022, when the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced its intention to ballot members for industrial action for the first time in its 106-year history in a dispute over a pay rise offer, which is less than 5% above inflation which the trade union says nurses should get.

Culture and staff levels

Less than half (44%) said they felt satisfied with the extent to which their organisation values their work.

Further reading

Stress at work – Oakwood Solicitors

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