ICS0036

Written evidence submitted by Kevin Daniels, Sara Connolly, Ritchie Woodard, Chris van Stolk, Jana Patey, Kevin Fong, Rachel France, Carol Vigurs and Mike Herd

NHS data on staff wellbeing shows that:

 

We estimated the costs to the NHS of poor staff wellbeing using NHS data. This showed that:

There are robust scientific studies that have established organisational and management factors as causes of wellbeing and there is evidence from other sectors that changing how work is organised, scheduled, performed and/or managed improves staff wellbeing.

We undertook a rapid systematic evidence review of organisational and management interventions which had been tried in the NHS reviewing studies published from 2010 onwards. We also assessed the cost-effectiveness of the interventions we found where we could find robust information to do so. We identified twelve studies of relevant interventions undertaken in the NHS: two were focused on systemic change, three on changing aspects to the psychosocial work environment, two on providing forms of workplace support, one on changes to how working schedules (shifts) were managed, two were focused on making changes to the physical workplace environment, one on automation and one on virtual/home- based working. Two out of twelve were concerned with responses to Covid-19 (one on changes to the physical environment and one on the introduction of virtual/home-based working).

Investing in staff wellbeing could enhance productivity and value for moneyChange is affordable because of the longer- term returns achieved.

Full report available at:

https://covidandsociety.com/rapid-evidence-review-economic-analysis-nhs-staff- wellbeing-and-poor-mental-health/

October 2022