The latest NHS staff survey for bank workers finds lower levels of burnout, but threats of physical violence from patients remain too high.
Although NHS bank workers report lower levels of burnout, as Healthcare Today highlighted last year, they continue to face high levels of physical violence and worsening development opportunities.
“These results tell us that while the experience of being a bank-only worker in the NHS has improved in some areas – namely reduced experiences of burnout – many continue to face high levels of physical violence and declining access to career development opportunities,” said Jenny King, chief research officer at Picker.
Good news first, the 2025 NHS Staff Survey for bank-only workers, which was coordinated by the international and independent charity Picker on behalf of NHS England, found that most measures of staff burnout have improved this year.
The proportion of bank workers reporting feeling exhausted at the thought of another shift fell to 15%. This is down from 16% in 2024 and 18% in 2023.
There were similar decreases for workers who found their work emotionally exhausting. The most recent survey had it at 20%, down from 22% in 2024 and 23% in 2023, while those who felt worn out at the end of their shift stood at 29%, down from 30% and 32% respectively.
The proportion of bank workers agreeing that they feel supported by the bank team has also improved, with 48% reporting this to be the case, up from 46% in 2024 and 44% in 2023. Change was particularly noticeable among ambulance bank workers, with an improvement of seven percentage points to 38% from 31% in 2024.
Physical violence
Bank workers’ experiences of physical violence from patients and the public did decrease last year, but remain too high, with 24% reporting at least one incident in the last 12 months. This is just a decline of one percentage point.
Experiences of physical violence varied by ethnic background, with white bank workers less likely to have experienced incidents than bank workers from all other ethnic groups combined (22% compared with 28%).
The highest rate was among male workers from all other ethnic groups combined (31%; up from 30% in 2024), while rates were lower for white female bank workers (22%) and white male bank workers (21%), both down compared with 2024.
“It is important that employers use these results to understand the experience of their bank-only workers locally. The survey also highlights inequalities in experience across staff groups, and this data should be used to tailor and co-produce responses to these challenges,” said King.
Elsewhere, this year’s results show substantial declines in questions asking about learning and career development opportunities. The proportion of bank workers agreeing that there are opportunities for them to develop their career in their organisation has decreased by 5% points, from 46% in 2024 to 41% in 2025.
Similar decreases are seen in other related questions. Fewer bank workers report having opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills (60%; down from 62% in 2024), and fewer feel supported to develop their potential (44%; down from 46% in 2024).
