O11
A CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYTICAL STUDY OF NHS TELEWORKING DURING THE UK COVID-19 PANDEMIC: EXPLORING FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEES’ PERCEIVED WORK-RELATED STRESS, WITH RECOMMENDATIONS ON THEIR SUPPORT FOR THE FUTURE
K. Lin1, I. Madan1, G. Ntani2, L. Curran3
1Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
2MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Centre, University of Southampton, UK
3King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
Background
Teleworking in the National Health Service (NHS) rapidly expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will likely continue in the foreseeable future. Yet, its effect on healthcare employees and support networks are largely unknown.
Aims
To explore the effects of healthcare employees’ teleworking intensity and other employee factors on perceived work-related stress. To evaluate NHS teleworking experience to develop evidence-based recommendations for their support.
Methods
A London NHS hospital service evaluation invited their staff via the intranet, who teleworked between October 2020 and August 2021, to complete an online teleworking experience questionnaire.
Perceived work-stress was indirectly measured using the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) management standards indicator tool (MSIT), with higher scores indicating lower risk of work-stress.
Effects on work-stress were explored with descriptive statistics and multilinear regression, and thematic analysis to describe teleworking experience.
Results
146 eligible participants (median age 42 years, 72% women) responded. Increasing teleworking intensity was associated with reduced risk of work-stress (β=0.4, 95% CI: 0.1-0.7). In this study, other employee factors were not associated with work-stress whilst teleworking.
113/146 participants wished to continue hybrid working to balance the advantages and disadvantages of teleworking.
Thematic analysis showed teleworking experience was largely positive, but negative colleague attitudes and managerial teleworking aversion sub-themes emerged. Colleague and manager support, employee autonomy and communication were key determinants of positive teleworking experience.
Conclusion
In this study, increased teleworking intensity reduced the risk of perceived work-stress. Hence, continuing teleworking is likely to benefit employee experience, especially with employee autonomy and workplace support.
References:
(1) Gajendran RS, Harrison DA. The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown About Telecommuting: Meta-Analysis of Psychological Mediators and Individual Consequences. Journal of Applied Psychology. 2007;92(6): 1524–1541. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.6.1524.
(2) Blank L, Hock E, Cantrell A, Baxter S, Goyder E. Exploring the relationship between working from home, mental and physical health and wellbeing: a systematic review. Public Health Research. 2023; 1–100. https://doi.org/10.3310/AHFF6175.
(3) Mutebi N, Hobbs A. The impact of remote and hybrid working on workers and organisations. UK Parliament POST. October 2022
