Anaesthetic Workforce Census 2025 – Wellbeing, Burnout and Retention
This report provides a detailed examination of issues related to wellbeing, burnout and retention across the anaesthetic workforce. It highlights the pressures facing anaesthetic staff, the factors shaping their experience at work, and the challenges that influence whether they remain in the profession.
These findings are essential for strengthening the support available to anaesthetic staff and boosting their rates of retention. Given anaesthetic staff play a vital role in elective surgery, maternity services, and emergency care ensuring a happy, engaged, and appropriately staffed workforce is crucial.
Summary of key findings
- In general, anaesthetic staff reported lower levels of life satisfaction, sense of life being worthwhile, and happiness than the UK population averages reported by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
- Locally Employed Doctors (LEDs), while consultants consistently reported the highest scores.
- Anxiety amongst anaesthetists is above the UK average (3.6/10 compared to 3.2/10).
- Average job satisfaction scores for anaesthetic staff was 6.3/10. Job satisfaction was highest among consultants (6.6/10) and lowest among LEDs (5.4/10) and PAAs (5.0/10).
- Over half the workforce reported signs of burnout, with 16% feeling burnt out to a high degree and 6% to a very high degree.
- Again, LEDs experienced the highest level of burnout of any anaesthetic staff group.
Around 6 in 10 (58%) of anaesthetic staff expected to be working in the NHS in 5 years’ time. However, around 1 in 5 (19%) thought they would leave and a further 22% were unsure, indicating impending challenges for workforce retention.
- 12% of all anaesthetic staff working in the NHS intend to retire in the next five years, including 22% of consultants.
- Among those considering leaving for reasons other than retirement and those uncertain if they would do so, the most common factors cited that would encourage them to stay were:
- increased pay (66%)
- improved career progression or training (34%)
- more flexible working (27%)
- pension reform (24%).
- Anaesthetic staff reported taking 5.6 days of sick leave per year on average, with just over one day (1.3) related to stress, burnout, anxiety or depression.
- LED, SAS doctors and PAAs took more sick days related to stress, burnout, anxiety or depression than AiTs or consultants.
- Those who reported low life satisfaction reported taking more than twice as many sick days per year overall than those reporting very high life satisfaction (11.6 compared with 4.5) and substantially more related to stress, burnout, anxiety or depression (5.7 compared with 0.2).
- Those who reported low life satisfaction were also much more likely to consider leaving in the next five years than those reporting very high life satisfaction (58% compared with 7%).
- Overall, the areas where anaesthetic staff reported the greatest satisfaction were:
- the extent to which their team supports them
- the safety of their working environment
- their department’s ability to provide high quality patient care
- access to staff toilet facilities.
- The areas where anaesthetic staff reported the greatest dissatisfaction were:
- computer/IT systems
- pension taxation
- affordability of parking facilities
- access to food and drink on-site.
- 63% of anaesthetic staff reported good access to some kind of food and drink (whether that was healthy or unhealthy), whereas over a quarter (28%) reported poor access.
- Unhealthy food options were more commonly available than healthy ones, with 33% saying food and drink were accessible but unhealthy.
- Just one third of anaesthetic staff (33%) said they had time to eat or drink every day or almost every day when working at their hospital.