Workforce

Staff experience from the NHS Staff Survey 2025 & sickness absence data

NHS Staff Survey 2025

Source: NHS Staff Survey 2025 Benchmark Report (published March 2026). Data extracted from NSS-Benchmark-report-excel-data-for-2021-2025.xlsx, 'Acute&Acute Community Trusts' sheet. Benchmarked against all 121 acute and acute & community trusts in England.

About the data: The NHS Staff Survey runs annually (September–November) with results published the following March. All 10 Shelford trusts participate. Theme scores are on a 0–10 scale (higher = more positive); advocacy questions show % agreeing or strongly agreeing. Scores are weighted by occupational group to enable fair comparison.

Staff Engagement Score

6.89

Shelford average · Acute trust avg: 6.73

Recommend as Place to Work

63.1%

Shelford average · Acute trust avg: 56.8%

Happy with Standard of Care

71.7%

Shelford average · Acute trust avg: 60.7%

Morale Score

5.95

Shelford average · Acute trust avg: 5.85

Response Rate

49.1%

Shelford average · Acute trust avg: 47.9%

Trust-Level Staff Survey Results

Source: NHS Staff Survey 2025 Benchmark Report. Theme scores on 0–10 scale; q25c and q25d are % agree/strongly agree.

Trust	Engagement	Morale	Recommend %	Care %	Response Rate %

Staff Engagement Score by Trust

Source: NHS Staff Survey 2025. Score on 0–10 scale. Dashed line shows acute trust average (6.73).

Recommend as Place to Work & Happy with Standard of Care

Source: NHS Staff Survey 2025. q25c: "I would recommend my organisation as a place to work"; q25d: "If a friend or relative needed treatment I would be happy with the standard of care provided by this organisation." % agree/strongly agree.

People Promise Theme Scores

Source: NHS Staff Survey 2025 Benchmark Report. Scores on 0–10 scale. Acute trust averages shown in brackets.

Trust	Compassionate & Inclusive	Recognised & Rewarded	Voice that Counts	Safe & Healthy	Always Learning	Work Flexibly	Team Working

Sickness Absence

Source: NHS Sickness Absence Rates, November 2025 (published 26 February 2026). Rates calculated from Electronic Staff Record (ESR).

Sickness Absence Rate (Shelford Avg)

5.26%

November 2025 · England: 5.61%

Sickness Absence Rate by Trust – November 2025

Source: NHS Sickness Absence Rates, November 2025 (published 26 February 2026). Dashed line shows England average (5.61%).

Sickness Absence Trend – Shelford Average vs England

Source: NHS Sickness Absence Rates, December 2024 – November 2025 (published 26 February 2026).