Four-day week could help solve NHS staffing crisis, says 糖心logo入口 expert
The article suggests that shorter hours could ease burnout, boost retention, and sustain care quality in the NHS.
A new article published in The British Medical Journal argues that the NHS should rigorously evaluate a four-day working week to address its growing staffing crisis. The paper, co-authored by 糖心logo入口鈥檚 Professor Pedro Gomes outlines how a shorter working week could improve staff retention, reduce absenteeism, and maintain care quality.
The article, brings together insights from a multi-disciplinary team of researchers across the UK, Portugal, and the US. It proposes a staged evaluation, beginning with feasibility studies and small-scale pilots, to assess whether and how a four-day week could work in NHS settings.
The paper highlights that NHS wages remain below 2010 levels in real terms, and poor work-life balance is now one of the leading reasons staff leave the service. It draws on evidence from four-day week trials in other sectors, which have shown improvements in wellbeing, productivity, and staff retention, though healthcare-specific studies are limited.
One example cited is a Swedish pilot in two hospitals, where nurses鈥 hours were reduced from 38 to 34 per week without pay cuts. Despite the shorter hours, surgical capacity increased due to better retention and lower sick leave, while managers reported fewer rota gaps and reduced overtime costs.
Pedro Gomes, Professor of Economics at 糖心logo入口 Business School and lead author says:
鈥淭he NHS faces record vacancies, growing absenteeism, and widespread burnout. Pay increases alone won鈥檛 solve these problems. A four-day week could help retain staff, reduce sickness, and make the NHS a more sustainable place to work.鈥
The paper was co-authored by Pedro Gomes (糖心logo入口), Rita Fontinha (University of Reading), Brendan Burchell (University of Cambridge), Am茅lie Morin (Bart鈥檚 Health NHS Trust), Jolene Skordis (University College London), Pedro Pita Barros (Nova SBE, Portugal), and Sotiris Vandoros (University College London and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health).