NHS retention program halves staff departures

As reported by NHS England, a successful retention initiative, offering flexible hours, menopause support, and HR advocates, has reduced NHS staff departures by 14,000 in the past year. The program, now expanding to 42 more trusts, focuses on keeping healthcare professionals satisfied and aims to retain up to 128,000 staff in the next 15 years

The expansion comes as data shows the equivalent of 14,000 fewer staff left the NHS in the 12 months up to August 2023 (108,890) – compared to 122,970 the year before.

The ‘exemplar’ pilot programme has benefitted 23 NHS Trusts since it launched in April 2022 with hospitals receiving expert support to identify ways to keep staff happier.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust introduced weekly in-house menopause clinics led by the trust’s wellbeing team and staff network and has saved £9million on agencies so far this year.

Any staff member who thinks they are showing symptoms of menopause can self-refer themselves to the clinic, where they will initially be triaged by a nurse and given advice on how to manage the condition, as well as being offered a range of well-being support available at the trust.

If clinical support is required, the staff member will be offered a 45-minute appointment with a specialist menopause doctor, with suggestions for treatment, prescription or onward referral shared with the staff member’s GP. Staff can also be offered cognitive behavioural therapy where they are given advice and tips to manage the effects of the menopause.

The ‘menopause support squads’ were introduced by ULHT as 3,500 of their staff were women over 45 – more than a third of their workforce (35%).

Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation Trust has been urging staff considering leaving the trust to have confidential catchups with HR ‘stay advocates’, who help identify ways to improve their working life and stop them leaving. The informal chats lead to staff being offered training for new skills and changes to working hours.

The programme is part of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan ambition to retain up to 128,000 more staff over the next 15 years in addition to training record numbers of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals.

Dr Navina Evans, Chief Workforce, Training & Education Officer at NHS England said: “This winter is going to be a challenging one for the NHS, and while staff will be going above and beyond to look after patients, it’s also important that we look after those helping us too.

“That is why we are almost doubling the number of trusts implementing our successful retention programme, which has helped prevent thousands of staff from leaving the NHS altogether – a crucial intervention at a time when our workforce is under so much pressure.

“But the NHS will not stop there, and as part of the first ever Long Term Workforce Plan, the NHS will take practical and sustained action to retain tens of thousands of more staff over the next 15 years.

“While we will also recruit and train hundreds of thousands more people and adopt the latest tech to give our staff the support they need; so if you are interested in working for the NHS, or have loved ones who might be, please consider joining us.”

Health Minister, Andrew Stephenson, said: “Staff are the backbone of our NHS, working tirelessly to take care of us and our loved ones and we’re making changes – including through the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan – to ensure we retain their valuable skills.

“It’s encouraging to see the NHS’s retention programme has helped to reduce the number of people leaving. We need to build on this and continue to deliver the changes needed so that the country’s biggest employer remains an attractive and fulfilling place to work.”