It’s fascinating to see how much time we spend writing about looking after the NHS workforce and how little is actually done to improve staff wellbeing. I’m not talking about Costa vouchers but about ensuring that staff get to take breaks and annual leave, providing hot food and a decent place to rest, or having a professional attitude to providing rotas on time. This is about basic issues around the health of the workforce.
The NHS is the biggest employer in the country, employing over 1.2 million people. But when it comes to the health of its staff, support is patchy at best. The overwhelming narrative is that staff can access services in the same way as anyone else. Yet we know that working patterns, staff shortages, and the reliance on …