NHS staff health and wellbeing

Helping you to look after the health and wellbeing of your staff and contribute to the delivery of quality patient care.

The SPF engages in national work on supporting the health and wellbeing of NHS staff. We also share related information and resources.

Health and Wellbeing Staff Standard

In July 2026, DHSC and NHS England launched the NHS Staff Standards. This included a staff standard for health and wellbeing, which sets out the responsibilities for employers in this space and aims to help them to prevent work-related ill health and support staff to feel safe, cared for and able to perform well.

The NHS Staff Standards are mandatory for secondary care organisations and should be implemented in partnership with trade unions. They represent the minimum standard of provision all staff should expect to receive from their employer.

The SPF was engaged in their development of the NHS Staff Standards and will continue to engage with DHSC and NHS England colleagues on their national implementation and oversight. Read our statement of support.

Health and Wellbeing Framework

In November 2021, NHS England launched a redesigned version of the NHS health and wellbeing framework. The framework helps organisations identify the health and wellbeing needs of staff, plan and deliver appropriate support and interventions, and evaluate their impact.

Team health and wellbeing guide

Inspired by the NHS health and wellbeing framework, NHS England produced the Team health and wellbeing guide to support all teams working in healthcare to improve their health and wellbeing through a culture-change approach. This was published in April 2023.

Text support service

NHS England provides a confidential text support service for NHS staff who are feeling worried or overwhelmed, or have a lot on their mind, and they need to talk it through. To access this support, staff can text SHOUT to 85258 for support 24/7.

Further resources

See the categories below for further resources to support staff health and wellbeing.

- NHS Employers developed useful information regarding reasonable adjustments in the workplace following the introduction of the Workforce Disability Equality Standard. The information outlines how employers can support all disabled staff through careful consideration of the individuals when implementing any reasonable adjustments in the workplace.
- Domestic violence - a resource from NHS Employers offering insight into how domestic violence can affect staff and what can be done to support them.
- Guidance from the NHS Staff Council's Health Safety & Wellbeing Group for organisations developing a domestic violence and abuse policy.
- Promoting health and wellbeing and attendance at work - guidelines developed in partnership through the NHS Staff Council’s Health, Safety & Wellbeing Group to supplement and reinforce Annex 26 of the NHS terms and conditions of service handbook.
- Sleep, fatigue and the workplace - information on the impact of fatigue on staff, and recommendations to improve sleep and rest.
- Back to basics for a healthy working environment infographic on the impact of hydration, nutrition, sleep, and regular breaks on staff wellbeing.
- Shift work in healthcare infographic on the importance of supporting shift workers.
- The BMA's supporting health and wellbeing at work makes recommendations for improving the health and wellbeing of doctors.
- The health and wellbeing communications guide produced by NHS Employers provides practical tools to help NHS health and wellbeing and staff experience leads deliver successful campaigns and initiatives.
- Evaluating your health and wellbeing programme - guidance for health and wellbeing leads on how to measure feedback from strategies and initiatives.
- Access NHS Employers’ relaunched Sickness Absence Toolkit - to support managers across the full employee journey, starting with prevention and early intervention and continuing through supportive sickness absence management.
- NHS Employers has a dedicated web section to support employees going through the menopause in the workplace with information on how managers can provide support and help tackle the stigma surrounding menopause.
- Access resources to support staff experiencing menopause via NHS England’s retention hub.
- Supporting our NHS people through menopause: guidance for line managers and colleagues - this guidance from NHS England supports NHS organisations, line managers and members of staff to better understand the menopause and support colleagues experiencing symptoms.
- Find details on NHS England's Menopause Awareness programme.
- NHS England’s Menopause Awareness learning hub includes e-learning sessions on menopause awareness, menopause and occupational health, and menopause and people professionals.
- NHS staff can access a range of wellbeing apps via NHS England's website.
- Supporting our NHS people experiencing stress - NHS Employers resource providing tips for managing stress and highlighting the importance of early detection and a supportive work environment.
- Guidance on prevention and management of stress at work from the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Group of the NHS Staff Council.
- Mental wellbeing in the workplace - NHS Employers infographic detailing latest statistics and information on mental wellbeing in the workplace.
- Mental health in the workplace - web page from NHS Employers providing tools and resources to help make positive improvements to mental wellbeing in the workplace.
- The British Medical Association (BMA) has developed a charter to support the mental wellbeing of doctors and medical students.
- Mind, the mental health charity, has developed a number of resources to help support people who are experiencing mental health issues at work.
- Mind Plan is a free online toolkit which asks five simple questions to help individual's to manage and maintain their mental health.
- Supporting mental health at work - online guidance from ACAS.
- Second Victim Support is a resource for clinicians involved in a patient safety incident, including guidance for their colleagues and employing organisation.
- NHS Growing occupational health and wellbeing together five year strategy from NHS England published in January 2023.
- Occupational health for NHS staff - insight from NHS Employers into occupational health services for NHS staff, benefits of services, and guidance for implementation.
- The Zero Suicide Alliance is a collaboration of NHS trusts, businesses and individuals who are all committed to suicide prevention in the UK and beyond. The alliance is ultimately concerned with improving support for people contemplating suicide by raising awareness of and promoting free suicide prevention training which is accessible to all.
- Access NHS England's Working together to prevent suicide in the NHS workforce toolkit, which is designed to help NHS organisations to reduce the risk of suicide in their workforce.
- Access the NHS employee suicide postvention toolkit, developed by Samaritans in partnership with NHS Confederation.
- Read the Postvention guidance for staff impacted by suicide produced by the University of Surrey, University of Birmingham and Keele University, for evidence-based guidance to improve support for NHS staff affected by colleague suicide.
- Find more information on suicide prevention and postvention and how employers can best support staff on the NHS Employers website.

NHS staff health and wellbeing

Health and Wellbeing Staff Standard

Health and Wellbeing Framework

Team health and wellbeing guide

Text support service

Further resources

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