Impact of redeployment on healthcare staff well-being and retention: a survey of staff in the UK National Health Service

Andrew Weyman; Richard Glendinning; Rachel O'Hara

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2025-107785

Impact of redeployment on healthcare staff well-being and retention: a survey of staff in the UK National Health Service

Andrew Weyman, Richard Glendinning, Rachel O'Hara

University of Sheffield

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The redeployment of healthcare staff from their normal place of work and duties to alternative activities is not a new phenomenon and has typically been used as a temporary measure to address capacity gaps. While redeployment supports the mobilisation of a flexible healthcare workforce, it also presents as a source of tension in relation to staff well-being and retention. This paper reports findings from a survey of staff in the UK National Health Service (NHS), exploring the impact of redeployment. METHOD: An online survey was administered by YouGov (2023), addressing contemporary evidence on variables impacting staff health, well-being and disposition to remain in NHS employment. The sample comprised NHS employees representing the principal healthcare job families and grades across acute hospitals, mental health, community and ambulance services. Statistical analysis (SPSS V.29.0.2.0) compared (independent samples t-test, z-test and χ2 test for trend) redeployed and non-redeployed staff response profiles. RESULTS: The staff who had experienced redeployment in the 6 months prior to spring 2023 showed higher rates of submitting applications for non-NHS jobs (22%; non-redeployed staff 12%). Redeployed staff reported higher stress, lower morale and less ability to switch off from work than non-redeployed staff (p<0.01). They also showed higher ratings of symptoms of burnout (p<0.0001), higher rates of sickness presenteeism (66% redeployed; 54% non-redeployed), greater worry over current working conditions (p<0.05) and lower confidence in their improvement in the near future (p<0.01), than non-redeployed staff. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the negative impacts associated with staff redeployment and challenges to staff health, well-being and disposition to remain employed in healthcare. Despite a growing consensus regarding the need to support the redeployed, evidence regarding 'what works' remains under-researched. Such insight is particularly pertinent given the growing interest in technological solutions for a more agile workforce, where deployment flexibility is a key feature.

Original language	English
Article number	e107785
Journal	BMJ Open
Volume	16
Issue number	2
Early online date	2 Feb 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-107785
Publication status	Published - 28 Feb 2026

Data Availability Statement

Data are available upon reasonable request. The data set that supported this paper is available from the lead author on request.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Funding

The data reported in this manuscript were gathered as a component of the UK Economic and Social Research Council grant ES/V015389/1, and supplementary funding from NHS England/Improvement. The University of Bath acts as the sponsor for this study under the Department of Health’s Research Governance for Health and Social Care (2005).

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

Burnout, Professional
Health Workforce
Human resource management
Occupational Stress
Psychosocial Intervention
Risk management

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Medicine

Access to Document

10.1136/bmjopen-2025-107785Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Impact of redeployment on healthcare staff well-being and retention: a survey of staff in the UK National Health Service",

abstract = "BACKGROUND: The redeployment of healthcare staff from their normal place of work and duties to alternative activities is not a new phenomenon and has typically been used as a temporary measure to address capacity gaps. While redeployment supports the mobilisation of a flexible healthcare workforce, it also presents as a source of tension in relation to staff well-being and retention. This paper reports findings from a survey of staff in the UK National Health Service (NHS), exploring the impact of redeployment. METHOD: An online survey was administered by YouGov (2023), addressing contemporary evidence on variables impacting staff health, well-being and disposition to remain in NHS employment. The sample comprised NHS employees representing the principal healthcare job families and grades across acute hospitals, mental health, community and ambulance services. Statistical analysis (SPSS V.29.0.2.0) compared (independent samples t-test, z-test and χ2 test for trend) redeployed and non-redeployed staff response profiles. RESULTS: The staff who had experienced redeployment in the 6 months prior to spring 2023 showed higher rates of submitting applications for non-NHS jobs (22\%; non-redeployed staff 12\%). Redeployed staff reported higher stress, lower morale and less ability to switch off from work than non-redeployed staff (p<0.01). They also showed higher ratings of symptoms of burnout (p<0.0001), higher rates of sickness presenteeism (66\% redeployed; 54\% non-redeployed), greater worry over current working conditions (p<0.05) and lower confidence in their improvement in the near future (p<0.01), than non-redeployed staff. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the negative impacts associated with staff redeployment and challenges to staff health, well-being and disposition to remain employed in healthcare. Despite a growing consensus regarding the need to support the redeployed, evidence regarding 'what works' remains under-researched. Such insight is particularly pertinent given the growing interest in technological solutions for a more agile workforce, where deployment flexibility is a key feature.",

keywords = "Burnout, Professional, Health Workforce, Human resource management, Occupational Stress, Psychosocial Intervention, Risk management",

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T1 - Impact of redeployment on healthcare staff well-being and retention: a survey of staff in the UK National Health Service

AU - Weyman, Andrew

AU - Glendinning, Richard

AU - O'Hara, Rachel

PY - 2026/2/28

Y1 - 2026/2/28

N2 - BACKGROUND: The redeployment of healthcare staff from their normal place of work and duties to alternative activities is not a new phenomenon and has typically been used as a temporary measure to address capacity gaps. While redeployment supports the mobilisation of a flexible healthcare workforce, it also presents as a source of tension in relation to staff well-being and retention. This paper reports findings from a survey of staff in the UK National Health Service (NHS), exploring the impact of redeployment. METHOD: An online survey was administered by YouGov (2023), addressing contemporary evidence on variables impacting staff health, well-being and disposition to remain in NHS employment. The sample comprised NHS employees representing the principal healthcare job families and grades across acute hospitals, mental health, community and ambulance services. Statistical analysis (SPSS V.29.0.2.0) compared (independent samples t-test, z-test and χ2 test for trend) redeployed and non-redeployed staff response profiles. RESULTS: The staff who had experienced redeployment in the 6 months prior to spring 2023 showed higher rates of submitting applications for non-NHS jobs (22%; non-redeployed staff 12%). Redeployed staff reported higher stress, lower morale and less ability to switch off from work than non-redeployed staff (p<0.01). They also showed higher ratings of symptoms of burnout (p<0.0001), higher rates of sickness presenteeism (66% redeployed; 54% non-redeployed), greater worry over current working conditions (p<0.05) and lower confidence in their improvement in the near future (p<0.01), than non-redeployed staff. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the negative impacts associated with staff redeployment and challenges to staff health, well-being and disposition to remain employed in healthcare. Despite a growing consensus regarding the need to support the redeployed, evidence regarding 'what works' remains under-researched. Such insight is particularly pertinent given the growing interest in technological solutions for a more agile workforce, where deployment flexibility is a key feature.

AB - BACKGROUND: The redeployment of healthcare staff from their normal place of work and duties to alternative activities is not a new phenomenon and has typically been used as a temporary measure to address capacity gaps. While redeployment supports the mobilisation of a flexible healthcare workforce, it also presents as a source of tension in relation to staff well-being and retention. This paper reports findings from a survey of staff in the UK National Health Service (NHS), exploring the impact of redeployment. METHOD: An online survey was administered by YouGov (2023), addressing contemporary evidence on variables impacting staff health, well-being and disposition to remain in NHS employment. The sample comprised NHS employees representing the principal healthcare job families and grades across acute hospitals, mental health, community and ambulance services. Statistical analysis (SPSS V.29.0.2.0) compared (independent samples t-test, z-test and χ2 test for trend) redeployed and non-redeployed staff response profiles. RESULTS: The staff who had experienced redeployment in the 6 months prior to spring 2023 showed higher rates of submitting applications for non-NHS jobs (22%; non-redeployed staff 12%). Redeployed staff reported higher stress, lower morale and less ability to switch off from work than non-redeployed staff (p<0.01). They also showed higher ratings of symptoms of burnout (p<0.0001), higher rates of sickness presenteeism (66% redeployed; 54% non-redeployed), greater worry over current working conditions (p<0.05) and lower confidence in their improvement in the near future (p<0.01), than non-redeployed staff. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the negative impacts associated with staff redeployment and challenges to staff health, well-being and disposition to remain employed in healthcare. Despite a growing consensus regarding the need to support the redeployed, evidence regarding 'what works' remains under-researched. Such insight is particularly pertinent given the growing interest in technological solutions for a more agile workforce, where deployment flexibility is a key feature.

KW - Burnout, Professional

KW - Health Workforce

KW - Human resource management

KW - Occupational Stress

KW - Psychosocial Intervention

KW - Risk management

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DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-107785

M3 - Article

SN - 2044-6055

VL - 16

JO - BMJ Open

JF - BMJ Open

IS - 2

M1 - e107785

ER -

Impact of redeployment on healthcare staff well-being and retention: a survey of staff in the UK National Health Service

Abstract

Data Availability Statement

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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