39.4 percent of NHS staff required to work remotely in 2021
LONDON, ENGLAND — While healthcare workers have remained physically on the frontlines of the fight against COVID, a recent National Health Service (NHS) survey has shown a surprising number of healthcare workers have also been required to work from home over the last year.
The NHS Staff Survey 2021, whose findings were only just recently published, revealed just under 40 percent of all staff had been required to work remotely or from home in the past 12 months.
According to the NHS, this figure had actually increased slightly from the 36 percent of healthcare workers required to work remotely in 2020.
The vast majority of staff members working from home in the past 12 months consisted of central functions/corporate services workers, accounting for 86.3 percent.
But this grouping was not alone in recording high percentages of employees working from home, as “around two-thirds of staff in mental health/learning disability or combined MH/LD and community trusts (66 percent) and in community trusts (63.2 percent) had worked remotely/from home,” according to NHS.
The figures show the diverse options available for healthcare workers or those keen to become part of the industry, Remote Worker founder Joe Boll said.
“When most people think about healthcare workers, images of doctors, nurses, or EMS typically come to mind,” he commented, “and while those professions are certainly among the most critical, this National Health Service survey goes to show there is so much more to working in healthcare.
“So, it is absolutely possible for people interested in working in the industry, but who may be concerned about safety, to look into remote opportunities for their chosen profession where they can still help the public in a meaningful way.”
NHS remote workers by the numbers
The NHS survey provided detailed data on how many healthcare workers were working remotely over the past year, and in which fields.
It reported a high percentage of registered nurses in mental health (58.9 percent) worked remotely/from home in 2021, as well as 49.6 percent of admin and clerical staff; 44.2 percent of allied health professionals; and 41.4 percent of medical and dental staff.
On the lower end of the spectrum, just 20 percent of registered nurses in adult/general worked from home, along with just 12.1 percent of ambulance (operational) staff; 11.9 percent of healthcare assistants; and 11.5 percent of maintenance/ancillary workers.
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References:
https://www.nhsstaffsurveys.com/static/f5b196e5bf02b9e0c65f3820f586697d/ST21_National-briefing.pdf
