Health and well‐being of the NHS workforce
| Date | 14 April 2010 |
| Published date | 14 April 2010 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5042/jpmh.2010.0158 |
| Pages | 4-7 |
| Author | Steven Boorman |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
4journal of public mental health
vol 9 • issue 1
© Pier Professional Ltd, 2010
10.5042/jpmh.2010.0158
Key words:
NHS workforce;
health and well-being;
efficiency;
care
also recognised that strategically this was a key year
for the NHS, with a chief executive committed to
a relentless focus on improving quality, mapped out
from th e work led by Lord Darz i (2008), bu t also
mindful of funding uncertainties ahead, which at
best will see the sustaine d increased investment in
NHS growth come to an end. In his annual report,
Davi d Nicho lson ha d clear ly laid out a need to
deliv er bette r future patient care, w hile mak ing
savings equivalent to many billions of pounds on
current running costs (Nicholson, 2008).
Theref ore, we re cognised t he need to deliver
this wo rk quickly, a nd the need to seek evidenc e
to articulate the case that the health of NHS staff is
relevant to delivering efficient and effective health
care. It is a link age that int uitively is an obvious
one, and one that the Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) art iculated for bus iness in a tag l ine ‘Good
health is good business’ (Health and Safety Executive,
1999) , but it was worry ing to fi nd that l ess than
40% of NHS staff believ ed that their employ er
proactively supported their health and well-being,
while over 80% believed that their health impacted
on the quality o f care th at they co uld offer their
patients (Department of Health, 2009a).
Methodology
I commissioned the research to underpin the review
with a consortium of researchers led by a team from
the Work Fou ndation, with i ndividua l resear ch
strands runn ing in parallel but sha ring progress to
identify common themes. I must p ay tribute to the
teams that collabora ted during the review’s period
of i ntense activity . They consiste ntly de livered
high quali ty work to ve ry tig ht mil estones , but
In November 2008, Alan Johnson, in his role
as Secretary of State for Health, announced
the go vernment’s response to Dame Ca rol
Bl ack ’s co mpr ehe nsi ve re vie w of th e
health o f the UK’s work ing age popula tion
(Department for Work and Pensions & Department
of Health, 2008). Dame Carol Black’s conclusions
highligh ted the cost to the economy of ill health
across this population being of a similar magnitude
to p aying fo r a sec ond Nat ional He alth Ser vice
(NHS) (Black, 2008).
Among a broad-ra nging list of respon ses, the
announcement proposed a review of the health of
NHS staff, t aking the opportunity t o consider the
UK’s largest emp loyer as a public sector exempla r.
In January 2009, I had the privilege of being asked
to lead the work. My review of the health of NHS
staff was actively commissioned by the Department
of Health, which gave it full support and assistance,
whi le r espec ting and allow ing the work to b e
undertaken independently and without restriction.
The rese arche rs an d re view team exper ience d
remarkable support and co-operation from NHS
organisa tions and oth er interested parties, which
was crucial in completing the wo rk to demanding
timescales.
Context
The review was, in my view, timely. I was appointed
in the mon th tha t the NHS p ublishe d its draft
constitu tion (Department of Health, 2008 ), with
clear recogniti on of the rights o f staff t o enjoy a
healthy and safe working environment and of their
own duty to ensure that personal health does not
disadvantag e their patients or f ellow workers. We
GUEST EDITORIAL
Steven Boorman
Lead reviewer NHS
Workforce Health and
Well-being, and Adviser
and Director Corporate
Responsibility, Royal Mail
Group
Correspondence to:
Steve Boorman
Advisor and Director
Corporate Responsibility,
Royal Mail Group,
Unit 6 Ancells Court,
Rye Close,
Fleet,
Hampshire
GU51 2UY
This paper is a personal descr iption of the NHS Health and Well-being Final Repo rt (Depar tment
of Health, 2009a) , which reviewed the health and well-being of the NHS wor kforce. The review
was commissioned by the Department of Health and concluded that significant associations could
be found between staff health and well-being and organisational perfor mance. The review calls for
improved emphasis and leadership on NHS staff health matters.
Health and well-being of the
NHS workforce
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