NHS staff experiences
Published
- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section
- 3. Navigate to By ethnicity over time (discrimination at work) section
- 4. Navigate to By ethnicity over time (career progression) section
- 5. Navigate toData sources section
- 6. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
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in every year shown, NHS staff from ethnic minority groups (not including white minorities) were over twice as likely to experience discrimination than white staff
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in 2022, 6.7% of white NHS staff has personally experienced discrimination from colleagues, compared with 16.6% of NHS staff from all other ethnic groups combined
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in every year shown, a higher percentage of white staff than staff from ethnic minority groups thought career progression was fair
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in 2022, 59.1% of white staff thought career progression was fair, compared with 49.4% of staff from ethnic minority groups
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows whether NHS staff in England:
- thought there was general fairness in career progression or promotion in their NHS trust among all staff
- had personally experienced discrimination at work in the last 12 months from colleagues, including managers or team leaders
Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place. See Download the data for unrounded figures.
Not included in the data
The data does not include staff working in:
- independent healthcare providers (non-NHS)
- social enterprises
- arm’s length bodies
- clinical commissioning groups (CCGs)
Data based on fewer than 11 responses from staff in all ethnic groups is not included.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is shown for the following 2 ethnic groups:
- white – including white British and white ethnic minorities
- all other ethnic groups combined
This is to be consistent with other Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) data and allow for reliable estimates. You can read more about how group size affects the reliability of data.
Data is only shown for staff who reported their ethnicity.
Methodology
Read the methodology for the data on this page.
You can also read the technical guide to the NHS Staff Survey.
All NHS trusts have to take part in the NHS Staff Survey, but the number of survey respondents varies between them. The percentages shown here are based on 225 trusts (98%), with a total of 357,073 respondents.
The figures on this page are based on survey data. Find out more about:
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interpreting survey data, including how reliability is affected by the number of people surveyed
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how weighting is used to make survey data more representative of the whole group being studied
In the data file
[Download the data] for data for specific NHS trusts.
The data may not be representative of all staff working for NHS trusts. This is because:
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some trusts selected a sample of staff to take part in the survey, while others invited all their staff to respond
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selected samples may not have been representative of all staff in that trust
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staff who completed the survey might have had different experiences at work than staff who did not
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staff from some ethnic groups might have been less likely to report their ethnicity, or reply to certain survey questions
3. By ethnicity over time (discrimination at work)
| Year | White | All other ethnic groups combined |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| 2018 | 6.4 | 15.3 |
| 2019 | 6.0 | 14.5 |
| 2020 | 6.2 | 16.7 |
| 2021 | 6.8 | 17.0 |
| 2022 | 6.7 | 16.6 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time (discrimination at work)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time (discrimination at work)’ (CSV)
4. By ethnicity over time (career progression)
| Year | White | All other ethnic groups combined |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| 2018 | 59.0 | 44.6 |
| 2019 | 59.7 | 45.6 |
| 2020 | 59.6 | 44.0 |
| 2021 | 58.7 | 44.4 |
| 2022 | 59.1 | 46.4 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time (career progression)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time (career progression)’ (CSV)
5. Data sources
Source
NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard (2022)
Type of data
Administrative and survey data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
NHS England
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The NHS collects ethnicity data to improve workforce race equality.
Secondary source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
NHS England
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The NHS Staff Survey provides essential information to employers and national stakeholders about staff experience across the NHS in England
6. Download the data
This file contains the following: Measure, Time, NHS_Trust, NHS_Trust_code, Ethnicity, Ethnicity_type, Geography, Geography_type, NHS_Trust_type, Value, Value_Type
This file contains the following: Measure, Time, NHS_Trust, NHS_Trust_code, Ethnicity, Ethnicity_type, Geography, Geography_type, NHS_Trust_type, Value, Value_Type
This file contains the following variables: Measure, Ethnicity, Time, Geography, Value, Sample Size