Can The NHS Afford A 4-Day Week?

“A four-day working week could truly lead to retention. Removing 12-hour shifts [and] reducing to four days equals less sick leave, increased staff satisfaction and wellbeing.” Emergency department nurse Virginia Beckerman

The campaign group 4 Day Week is proposing that NHS employers experiment with a 32-hour, 4-day week. The group posits that the shorter week would enhance the work-life balance for nurses and thus aid recruitment and retention efforts.

How Could This Benefit NHS Staff?

The group insists such a measure would markedly improve both recruitment and retention in the health service, and consequently reduce the need for high-cost bank and agency staff to fill gaps in workforce rotas.

It was reported that a majority of UK companies who took part in a previous four-day week trial continued with that new working pattern, with no reduction in employees’ pay.

This earlier trial established that workers’ well-being improved considerably when working a four-day week, with productivity remaining undiminished.

Staff in the trial would remain on the same pay as they are currently earning.

Given the strains already present in the NHS due to staffing shortages and a growing treatment backlog, could reducing the number of hours nurses work provide the same benefit as it has in other industries, and is it possible for nurses on a shift-based rota to maintain their productivity with fewer hours worked?

"As we’ve seen in other areas of the economy, there are huge advantages with a four-day working week for both workers and employers. For the NHS it could help to improve job retention, reduce the reliance on expensive agency staff and improve the quality of care", opined Director of the 4 Day Week Campaign Joe Ryle.

Overtime Becoming ‘Increasingly Normalised’

A new report by the campaign group suggested it was becoming ‘increasingly normalised’ for NHS staff to work overtime without the requisite breaks, with the burden of this overtime impacting more heavily on junior staff.

“There is a culture and pressure to work extra shifts, but I think as a more established nurse you can override that by saying no,” one children’s nurse was quoted as saying in the report.

There has been longstanding concern over the number of nurses leaving the profession due to burnout and poor pay, many of whom leave before retirement age for better paid jobs in other industries.

The report projected that for every three nurses trained by March 2024, one experienced nurse will leave due to a lack of work-life balance.

If a shorter working week does result in fewer nurses leaving the NHS, do you think that will have a knock-on effect on recruitment levels as well, given the improved working conditions and work/life balance the shorter week is intended to bring about?

“A four-day working week could truly lead to retention. Removing 12-hour shifts [and] reducing to four days equals less sick leave, increased staff satisfaction and wellbeing.” Emergency Department Nurse Virginia Beckerman

Could This Be A Solution To Staff Shortages?

Greater flexibility for NHS staff, including a shorter working week, could be the remedy for chronic staff shortages according to the former president of the Faculty of Public Health Dr. John Ashton.

"With job retention levels so low, agencies are charging the NHS around 20% or more extra for staff. A four-day week could dramatically improve job retention and result in this money being re-directed back towards the health service" he explained.

Senior sister Katy Garland thought a four-day week was a good idea in theory but anticipated it would create ‘gaps’ in her department’s rota due to insufficient nursing staff available to fill shifts.

Have Your Say

Do you think trialling a 4-day week could bring nurses and patients into potential conflict, with the fewer staff hours worked leading inevitably to even longer waiting lists?

Please let us know what you think in the comments, and Like the article if you found it interesting.

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