GP Staff Survey (GPSS)
The NHS Staff Survey is the world’s largest annual workforce survey. For more than two decades it has provided the highest standards of rich, quality data to inform our understanding of, and so improve, staff experience.
We want everyone who is part of the NHS to have the opportunity to feedback on their experiences at work. Until recently, this opportunity did not exist for those working in primary care. We want to close this gap and understand those unique experiences so we can develop local and national approaches to actively support this vital group in the NHS.
The aim is for the GPSS to form an integral part of the annual cycle. We want to work with and learn from systems so ultimately, the survey will be available to every practice, PCN and federation.
About the Survey
Voluntary national rollout of the NHS GPSS has taken place since 2022. It is run independently of NHS England and to the highest standards of quality and accuracy. Anything you say, will be kept confidential and anonymous.
Collected data has the potential to be a rich source of information to improve the working experience of staff in general practice, and so also improve patient care.
About the survey process
The people who support and organise the workforce may be asked to contribute to the collation of staff lists. This will ensure we have captured everyone who should be invited to complete the survey.
When the survey goes live, people will be sent a direct and unique link to the survey via email. This allows the independent survey provider to monitor response and send reminders to complete the survey appropriately.
Responses to the survey from individuals will be confidential and comply with internationally recognised market research standards. After the survey closes, responses will be gathered by the independent national survey provider Picker, which manages the survey for the NHS.
Encouraging response
The NHS People Promise states ‘We each have a voice that counts’ and this includes people working in general practice, from all backgrounds and experience and we need your support to make this happen.
Every voice counts. It will take 15 minutes to complete the survey, and it help us understand your experience of working in general practice.
Everyone should have the opportunity to feedback on their experiences at work. By completing GPSS, you will help yourself and your colleagues in primary care have a voice.
People working in general practice need to be heard, help us deliver a national survey for you and your colleagues by taking part and giving us your views. Help us build a better picture about working in general practice.
Why the NHS GPSS matters
Implementing the GPSS will produce standardised, comparable, actionable data which will support improvements to working experience and therefore, recruitment and retention of staff.
The survey marks a critical step towards the implementation of Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) and Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) in primary care settings. This will provide important evidence about the differences in staff experiences.
The more our NHS staff know their organisations are listening to them and acting on their feedback, the better the outcomes for us and our patients. It will become a rich source of data to support understanding our NHS people’s working experiences and inform actions to improve that experience.
Confidentiality
Reporting will be in summary form and does not reveal the identity of anyone who took part. To ensure anonymity, some data may be suppressed to adhere to strict confidentiality standards as set out by the NHS. Smaller organisations or those with few responses may not receive results though they will feed anonymously into the higher-level reporting. This maintains confidentiality and anonymity of responses, protecting the survey respondent.