The UK government faces an uphill battle as it looks to address the state of the NHS. Not least because, after years of being under-valued and over-worked, large numbers of doctors and nurses are considering a change of career.

Shortly after the general election, the UK government offered doctors a 22% pay rise in a bid to end a pay dispute that’s raged for more than a year. Junior doctors in England have been walking out of public hospitals in a series of strikes that began in March 2023 – with the most recent walkout occurring just before the country went to the polls.

The staffing group wanted a pay rise of 35% to cover what they argued had been more than a decade of below-inflation pay hikes. While ministers haven’t met this demand, the substantial increase may go a long way when repairing relations between NHS staff and the government.

Source: Bain & Company 

The deal will be voted on by junior doctors who are members of the British Medical Association – whose leaders have recommended they accept the deal. It could not have come at a better time, with Labour currently aiming to increase the number of appointments and operations done each week by 40,000, to help shrink waiting lists to an 18-week maximum.

But according to NHS Confederation research, its current plans will only about 15% of the extra capacity needed to get back to reaching the target, which has not been hit since 2006. At the same time, the plans have been hit by general practitioners, who have now launched industrial action of their own. Amid a row over funding, some 8,500 family doctors responded to a BMA ballot, with 98% backing action that will see some slash available appointments by half.

Taking stock of the situation, recent Bain & Company research suggests that without radical change, the NHS could see the situation get even worse, if it does not look to improve job satisfaction among clinicians critical to securing improved NHS performance, productivity and delivery. According to the research, 23% of doctors and 50% of nurses are currently considering switching career. At the same time, 27% of doctors and 37% of nurses are contemplating switching employer – in a trend which could see a severe drain of talent into the private sector.

Asked what the driving forces were for this sentiment, the medical professionals surveyed cite burnout, excessive workloads and lack of recognition as the driving factors behind their desire for a change of workplace or career. Illustrating this, more than 60% of surveyed UK clinicians said they felt worn out by the end of the workday, while only 41% said they felt their job meets their basic physical and mental needs.

Source: Bain & Company 

These pressures could also have a detrimental impact on the productivity of those who stay. Less than half of top-performing doctors and nurses felt that their employer had adequately staffed their organisation. But even with a sharp rise in the NHS workforce, the survey findings show that nearly 90% of hospital managers still report experiencing organisational challenges in recruiting and retaining doctors and nurses.

The retention challenge is emphasised by a continuing churn in the health service workforce, with a record 170,000 staff, including 41,000 nurses, leaving employment by NHS hospitals and community health services in 2022. At the same time, around 40% of doctors believe their organisation’s challenges with recruitment and retention are due to clinician job dissatisfaction.

Commenting on the findings, Jeremy Marlow, partner in Bain & Company’s UK healthcare and life sciences practice, said, “The pressing need to improve productivity and delivery in the health service has to go hand-in-hand with urgent requirement to address the high levels of clinician dissatisfaction with their jobs and careers that our survey reveals. Engaging proactively with clinical staff is essential not just to retain these vital people in their roles, but to unlock their energy and commitment to make performance improvement initiatives work to their full potential.”