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PIHR researchers are engaging in workforce stress related research across a number of clinical areas, including social work, nursing and midwifery and have also been looking at the need for recovery amongst emergency physicians in the UK and Ireland.

Recent examples include a rapid evidence review on the mental health of dental professionals . The study led by Anastasios Plessas , in collaboration with the University of Southampton and with funding from the General Dental Council, concluded that dentists suffer an increased level of stress and burnout, particularly general dental practitioners, with litigation and regulation the main stressors. Similarly research led by Professor Bridie Kent , involving surveys of the UK nursing and midwifery workforce found concerning levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), stress and anxiety in respondents. Meanwhile Professor Jos Latour has explored the need for recovery and physician well-being in emergency departments, while Dr Susie Pearce and Professor Mary Hickson have secured funding from the Torbay Medical Research Fund for research to develop the .

Stress arising from unmanageable case-loads is thought to be one of the main reasons why the average career span for social workers is less than eight years. Associate Professor Dr Oliver Beer ’s research has primarily focused on the health and well-being of the child protection workforce, utilising innovative approaches to prevent and reduce work-related stress. He has also undertaken research on the workforce more widely including the perception of stress amongst social workers and the role of coping strategies. Meanwhile Dr Beth Moran 's research has focused on how to best support social work students in practice placements particularly with regards to dealing with the emotional context and stresses of the work. She is also leading on a £52,593 project for the Health and Care Professions Council on preparedness for practice.

Further details of research related to social workers can be found on the Social Work Research Group webpage .

The unprofessional behaviours of some healthcare staff towards their colleagues can be both a contributor to and symptom of workplace mental health and wellbeing problems. The School of Nursing and Midwifery’s Professor Aled Jones has been working with colleagues in a number of institutions on a £298K NIHR funded realist review to improve understanding of how, why and in what situations staff unprofessional behaviours can be best reduced, managed and prevented. .

The UK is heavily dependent on overseas qualified doctors to staff its healthcare system. According to the General Medical Council’s Workforce Report 2019, over 34.5% of doctors on the register received their primary medical qualification abroad, while 4% of doctors leave the UK medical workforce each year.

In light of these issues, a team from CAMERa, led by Dr Nicola Brennan and involving Professor Tom Gale and Dr Marie Bryce , undertook a project for the General Medical Council to investigate patterns of doctors to and from the UK. found an increasing dependence on non-UK trained doctors (particularly from India, Pakistan, Sudan, Egypt and Nigeria) to staff the UK’s healthcare system. The research also found that the decision for a doctor to migrate is multi-layered and is a complex balance between push/pull factors at macro-/meso-/micro-levels.

PIHR academics have also been researching the development of new health and care roles.

Local Freedom to Speak Up Guardians (referred to here as FTSUGs) were recently introduced in Acute Trusts and Mental Health Trusts to support staff who wish to raise concerns about the quality of care. Professor Aled Jones led a £628K NIHR project to better understand how the new roles have been introduced and whether they are helping staff speak up about their concerns. .

One such role is the social prescribing link worker. Based in GP practices, these provide practical and emotional community support to people referred to them by local agencies. The link workers have time to build trusting relationships, start with what matters to the person, create a shared plan and introduce people to community support. Researchers from the Community and Primary Care Research Group ( Husk ) have been investigating the experiences of SP link workers. View further information on social prescribing .

The School of Health Professions’ Dr Kev Stone has been undertaking research on the role of Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs). This includes co-authoring a report with colleagues from UCLAN and Sheffield Hallam University on the experiences of AMHPs and best interest assessors for Social Work England, to find out how different professional backgrounds influenced specialist practice and how people experienced the support provided by these two roles.