Intensive Care Society Welcomes National Report on NHS Staff Fatigue and Calls for Urgent System-Level Action to Address Workforce Exhaustion and Protect Patient Safety
The Intensive Care Society welcomes today’s report by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), which shines a critical light on the systemic impact of staff fatigue across the NHS and its serious consequences for patient safety.
The Society is proud to have contributed to this important investigation and strongly endorses the report’s central message: that fatigue must no longer be seen as an individual wellbeing issue, but as a system-level risk requiring urgent and coordinated action.
The Society stands firm on the minimum staffing levels set in our co-produced Guidelines for the Provision of Intensive Care Services v2.1, with a continued focus on patient and staff safety to be expanded in the upcoming Third Edition.
This significant report from the HSSIB reflects a reality that intensive care professionals know all too well. Chronic exhaustion, long shifts, and persistent staffing shortages are not only undermining the wellbeing of staff — they are compromising the care and safety of patients.
Fatigue is a safety issue — not just a wellbeing one.
As the report makes clear, the consequences of unmanaged fatigue are already evident in safety incidents across the NHS, including medication errors and diagnostic mistakes. In high-pressure environments like intensive care, the stakes are even higher.
The Intensive Care Society is therefore calling for:
- An immediate plan to increase and sustain staffing levels to reduce workload pressure for all staffing groups and allow for proper rest and recovery between shifts meeting existing guidelines.
- A national approach to fatigue management that recognises it as a critical safety risk.
- Cultural change across the NHS to move beyond individual blame and toward system-wide solutions.
"This report highlights what those of us on the frontline have long known — that staff fatigue is a safety issue, not simply a wellbeing concern. We cannot continue to ignore the increasing evidence that staff fatigue directly result in patient safety concerns. We must act now to build a system that protects both patients and staff."
The Society stands ready to work with NHS leaders, unions, policymakers, and colleagues across the health service to turn these findings into action. Fatigue is not inevitable — it is a risk we can and must manage, together.
ENDS
The Intensive Care Society is the largest multi-professional intensive care membership organisation in the United Kingdom.
You can find more information about the Society at: www.ics.ac.uk
Media please contact: press@ics.ac.uk