Building positive workplace cultures in the NHS
Information to support the building of positive workplace cultures in the NHS.
NHS Staff Survey results
The 2025 NHS Staff Survey results revealed that 17.1 per cent of staff who responded had experienced harassment, bullying or abuse from a colleague in the last 12 months, and 9.11 per cent from a manager.
Civility and respect toolkit
In January 2021, NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSEI) launched the following resources.
- Supporting our staff: a toolkit to promote cultures of civility and respect (pdf). There was a commitment in the NHS People Plan 2020/21 for NHSEI to make this toolkit available to NHS organisations to support their work in promoting cultures of civility and respect. The national SPF was involved in the development of the toolkit.
- Condensed version of the full toolkit (pdf).
- Civility and Respect Animation - NHS England 2023 which sets out the purpose of the civility and respect toolkit and gives an overview of how it can be used.
- Cost of bullying calculator and diagnostic tool (excel macro-enabled workbook, May 2022). To access this tool, download the file, save it with a different name, close it down, and re-open it with a different name.
- Guidance on commissioning external consultants (pdf) to review bullying and harassment in NHS organisations.
Make or Break: Incivility in the workplace
Incivility in the workplace can have a detrimental effect on staff and patient safety. Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust video shows how incivility can negatively impact on staff working in the NHS and the positive benefits of active kindness. Watch the video below.
