Identifying positive change within the NHS as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic

We aimed to identify positive change within the NHS as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic by assessing staff views on re-deployment, wellbeing and workplace satisfaction.

An anonymous questionnaire was sent out to medical staff working across four major NHS trusts using SurveyMonkey.

We surveyed staff working in NHS trusts across London and the surrounding areas.

We used a randomly selected range of medical, nursing and dental staff across multiple specialties, including those who were redeployed and those who were not.

We reviewed positive and negative responses to binary questions.Staff surveyed felt a greater sense of workplace camaraderie and fellowship, and generally more appreciated as NHS caregivers than they had prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is clear that the pandemic has been a catalyst for reflection, as a majority of staff (71.43%) felt there was more mental health and wellbeing support accessible in their workplace now than there was a year ago, and 75.63% felt that COVID-19 had influenced their perspective on work-life balance.

The first wave of the pandemic engendered positive change, and positive staff attitudes persisted in the face of a second wave due to ascribed support, appreciation, and co-worker camaraderie and fellowship.