The national health care system in the UK (NHS) is renowned for the financial and resource pressures that it continues to be under. High volumes of vacancies exist across NHS departments, which can have knock-on effects for the quality of patient care. To help address these workforce shortages, various flexible working policies have been introduced across NHS Trusts. One example of this is the introduction of 12-hour shifts, however, evidence is mixed as to the potential impact of these on employee wellbeing and performance. Underpinned by Job Demands-Resources model, the aim of this study was to explore the impact of moving to 12-hour shifts on employee wellbeing for staff working in a large mental health NHS Trust.
Semi structured interviews were held with mental health ward staff across four different levels of job role (n=35 at T1), with follow up interviews conducted 6-9 months later (n=35 at T2). Two thirds of the sample were women, which shares parallels with the gender distribution of the wider NHS.
Although a 'consultation' had been held between staff and senior managers regarding the move to 12-hour shifts, there was a sense of distrust in management and concerns over how transparent or genuine this process was. Irrespective of respondents' perceptions of this change, the fact that many had misgivings about the consultation process itself had a significant impact on employee wellbeing, with many respondents citing that they felt they had little control over the proposed change to working patterns.
The move to 12-hour shifts, for female workers in particular, may have far reaching consequences due to the 'double shift' that still seems to permeate in current times and how this might impact non-work commitments. Our research also has implications relating to the sustainability of the NHS workforce.