NHS Staff Survey 2025: health and wellbeing overview
The overall scores for health and wellbeing remain the same, with continued emphasis on the importance of supporting staff health and wellbeing.
The national results continue to show a mixed picture and continue to show staff are working under great pressure. This is demonstrated within the indicators of stress, burnout and attending work when unwell. The results show that staff feel supported by their line managers however confidence in their employer taking positive action on wellbeing has fallen.
Organisations are encouraged to look at trends in individual questions to benchmark their progress, celebrate success and identify areas of improvement.
Key findings
- The overall score remained stable but some key indicators worsened compared to previous years.
- Staff who have felt unwell due to work related stress increased by one percentage point from 2024 and has decreased by 4.72 per cent since 2021.
- Presenteeism continues to be a concern. Every year since 2021, more than half of the staff responding to the survey have gone to work in the last three months despite not feeling well enough to perform their duties. This year, 56.01 per cent reported doing so.
- Burnout continues to be a major concern. All measures using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory indicate worsened scores on all measures. Notably, the percentage of staff describing themselves as burnt out has risen to 31.47 percent, compared to 30.26 per cent in 2024.
- Small improvements in staff reporting their immediate line managers takes an interest in staff health and wellbeing. This is a positive indication of continued improvements within organisations to support line managers and enable them to support teams.
- There has been a decrease in staff reporting that their employer takes positive action towards their health and wellbeing.
Violence
Through the Social Partnership Forum, NHS Employers continue to work with partners on violence reduction. The 2025 results show an increase in levels of violence against staff, increasing from 14.38 per cent to 14.47 per cent, the highest level in three years. The reporting rates of violence against staff has increased slightly to 75.36 per cent.
You can read more about violence prevention on the Social Partnership Forum website.
Further information and resources
The comparative data on health and wellbeing can be accessed via the interactive tool on the NHS England Staff Survey website. The website can also show trends and data by demographic group to help understand the experience of all staff groups.
We offer a wide range of health and wellbeing resources on our website. You might find the following particularly useful:
Our sickness absence toolkit provides guidance to managers about having supportive conversations around sickness absence.
Our guidance on beating burnout in the NHS explores how and why organisations must take action.
Read our health and wellbeing case studies that provide a wealth of information on how organisations are taking preventative measures to support staff.
