How often have you wished that you could tell someone how you feel about your role? No holds barred, honestly and from the heart? For over 20 years, NHSE has run the NHS staff survey which asks secondary care staff how they feel about their role and organisation. Over time, it’s become apparent that while GP practices are an important and integral part of the NHS, staff haven’t been asked how they feel about the working world they inhabit. 2022 saw a big change in the NHS, where Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) became the legal entities responsible for commissioning across health and social care.

It makes sense then that, with almost 20 years of data being available on how secondary care staff feel about their workplaces, ICBs would want to understand more about how other parts of the workforce feel too.

Across the country, 21 ICBs have returned data from practices that will enable staff to contribute to the survey.

So, why is this important, and what do you need to know?

The more staff who contribute, the more useful the results will be. Data and results will be anonymised, and practices, PCNs and ICBs will receive reports with appropriate levels of detail to maintain confidentiality. Where fewer than 11 responses are returned, reports will not be provided in order to ensure anonymity. Where practices do not receive a report, they will be able to access their PCN footprint report. To get the most from the survey, encourage as many of your staff members as possible to take part.

Workforce wellbeing has been a big focus in the last few years, especially as the aftermath of the COVID-19 epidemic rumbles on. In particular, this year, we’re being asked to focus on making sure we assess our practices and staff to better understand and support workforce wellbeing, so information like this is exactly what’s needed.

The survey will be open for eight weeks, running alongside the main NHS Staff Survey, from 2nd October to 24th November, and resources to support uptake will be available on the FutureNHS site. You can find out whether your ICB is taking part via the FutureNHS programme, and if yours isn’t, please ask why. You might just be able to be part of a major piece of work to support the challenges faced by general practice staff.