A national research partnership will explore ways to support wellbeing and sustainability in the NHS and social care same day and urgent care workforce.
Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research and led by UWE Bristol, and supported by the StART research group at the University of Bath and others, the partnership will investigate the root causes of frequent staff shortages, high employee sickness rates and difficulties recruiting new staff with a view to finding solutions.
Same day and urgent care covers general practice, ambulance services, urgent treatment centres and Emergency Departments, across the UK.
Researchers will explore how to plan and provide services to ensure they meet the needs of patients and carers while offering an attractive environment for staff. The research evidence will be used to change policy and practice across the urgent care system and create an effective, thriving, diverse and sustainable workforce.
During the five-year study, academics will consult widely with patients, health and social care staff and NHS managers. They will explore contemporary issues affecting workforce recruitment and retention, particularly issues that affect staff from under-represented groups in the UK. They will map services being provided nationally and bring together existing evidence.
Starting this month, the Same Day and Urgent Care (SURGE) Workforce Research Partnership has been funded by a grant of almost £5 million from the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
Drs Rachel Arnold and Lee Moore from the StART research group at the University of Bath said:
“We are delighted to be co-investigators on this grant with colleagues from School of Management, UWE, and broader institutions and NHS trusts. We look forward to contributing our occupational stress and thriving expertise to the SURGE work to more optimally support same day and urgent care workforce so that, ultimately, they can thrive at work and pressing health, wellbeing, performance and retention workforce challenges can be actioned.”
Professor Christos Vasilakis, Director of the Centre for Healthcare Innovation and Improvement at the University of Bath said: "The strength of the NHS lies in its people. Challenges with recruiting and retention are well documented. This is especially the case in urgent and same-day care, where staff typically deal with high and unpredictable workload, complex cases and time pressures. Our research aims to uncover the complexities and generate new evidence that will help create a better working environment for staff, ultimately improving patient care."
The SURGE partnership is one of five innovative new research partnerships designed to tackle major challenges facing NHS and social care staff as part of a £24 million investment from the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The partnerships involve 24 universities across England and Wales, five NHS Trusts, four councils, and five charities and non-profit organisations, working across a wide range of integrated care system regions.
Sarah Voss, Professor of Emergency Care at UWE Bristol and co-lead on the partnership, said: “Same day and urgent care is time-critical, high-pressured and unpredictable, making the workforce extremely vulnerable to poor mental and physical health. This impacts on wellbeing, sickness levels, job satisfaction and ultimately performance. Recruitment and retention are among the worst in the NHS, resulting in challenges to the delivery of timely, safe, high-quality and efficient care for patients.”