What Questions Should a GP Practice Staff Wellbeing Survey Include?

A GP practice staff wellbeing survey should ask about the working conditions that influence employees' experience of their roles. The most useful questions cover workload, management support, communication, working relationships, role clarity and confidence in raising concerns.

Questions should be specific enough to help Practice Managers understand where difficulties exist and what may need to change. Simply asking whether employees are happy at work is unlikely to provide sufficient information for management decisions.

A well-designed survey should also reflect the realities of general practice, including patient-facing pressure, competing administrative demands and the different responsibilities of clinical and non-clinical employees.

There is no prescribed number of questions suitable for every practice. The priority is to gather meaningful feedback without creating an unnecessarily lengthy exercise.

• What are the most important areas to cover?

  A staff wellbeing survey should examine aspects of work that practice leaders can reasonably understand, influence or address. This helps distinguish between general employee satisfaction and specific working conditions that may be contributing to pressure.

  The Health and Safety Executive's Management Standards identify six areas associated with work-related stress: demands, control, support, relationships, role and change.

  These provide a useful foundation for survey design, although GP practices may also wish to examine staff voice, confidence in leadership and experiences of patient-facing work.

  A practical survey could cover:

  • Workload: Whether employees have sufficient time and capacity to complete their responsibilities.

  • Management support: Whether staff can obtain appropriate guidance and assistance.

  • Communication: Whether important operational information is shared clearly and consistently.

  • Working relationships: Whether colleagues treat one another respectfully and resolve disagreements appropriately.

  • Role clarity: Whether staff understand their responsibilities and who makes relevant decisions.

  • Staff voice: Whether employees feel comfortable raising concerns and offering suggestions.

  • Organisational change: Whether changes to systems, staffing or procedures are explained and supported.

  • Patient-facing pressure: Whether staff receive appropriate support when dealing with demanding or difficult interactions.

  These areas should not automatically become separate, lengthy questionnaires. A carefully selected group of questions may be sufficient to identify where further discussion is needed.

• What questions should practices ask about workload?

  Workload questions should establish whether employees can carry out their duties within available time and resources, rather than simply asking whether they feel busy.

  A busy working day is not necessarily evidence of an unreasonable workload. The more useful distinction is whether routine responsibilities consistently exceed the capacity available.

  This can be particularly relevant in reception and administration, where employees may be balancing telephone demand, patient enquiries, prescriptions, referrals and requests from clinical colleagues.

  Suggested survey questions:

  • I can usually complete my routine responsibilities within my working hours.

  • My workload is manageable with the staffing and resources available.

  • I understand which tasks should take priority when demands compete.

  • I can take appropriate breaks during my working day.

  • I have sufficient time to complete tasks to the standard expected.

  These questions can help identify different problems.

  For example, employees may report manageable overall workloads but experience difficulty prioritising tasks. This could suggest a need for clearer instructions rather than additional staffing.

  Alternatively, consistently negative responses about available time may warrant a review of workload distribution, capacity and operational processes.

• How should a survey assess management support and communication?

  Questions about management should focus on employees' experience of receiving guidance, practical support and relevant information.

  Staff do not necessarily need regular direct contact with the Practice Manager to feel supported. They do, however, need clarity about where to obtain assistance and how concerns will be handled.

  Communication questions are especially relevant where employees work different shifts, move between sites or receive instructions from several colleagues.

  Suggested survey questions:

  • I know who to approach when I need support with a work-related issue.

  • I receive clear guidance when responsibilities or procedures change.

  • My manager listens to concerns about my working arrangements.

  • Important information is communicated in time for me to act on it.

  • I receive appropriate feedback about my work.

  These questions are more useful than asking employees to provide a general rating of management.

  A lower score relating to communication could indicate difficulties with team briefings, handovers or how procedural changes are introduced.

  A concern about access to support may suggest that responsibilities between line managers, senior receptionists, clinical leads or GP partners are unclear.

  Understanding the specific difficulty allows a more constructive management response.

• What questions can help assess staff voice and working relationships?

  Staff voice concerns whether employees feel able to contribute ideas, ask questions and raise legitimate concerns without fear of unfair treatment.

  In general practice, employees may be comfortable reporting routine operational problems but less willing to challenge decisions involving senior colleagues.

  A survey should therefore examine whether appropriate opportunities exist for staff to speak openly and whether those contributions are taken seriously.

  Suggested survey questions:

  • I feel comfortable raising concerns about how work is organised.

  • I can ask questions when I am unsure about a decision or instruction.

  • My views are considered when changes affect my responsibilities.

  • Colleagues treat one another with respect.

  • Workplace disagreements are handled fairly and appropriately.

  • I know how to raise a concern that I do not feel comfortable discussing with my immediate manager.

  These questions address different aspects of the working environment.

  An employee may report positive relationships with colleagues while lacking confidence that management will respond to concerns.

  Another may feel comfortable suggesting improvements but be uncertain about how to report a serious issue.

  It is useful to distinguish between everyday participation and formal routes for raising concerns.

  A staff survey should not replace established processes for grievances, safeguarding concerns, patient safety incidents or speaking up.

• Should surveys include questions about patient-facing pressure?

  Yes, where relevant to the employees completing the survey. Patient-facing demands are an important feature of general practice and may not be adequately captured by generic workload questions.

  Reception staff can experience challenging conversations when patients are dissatisfied with appointment availability or practice procedures.

  Clinical staff may face emotionally demanding consultations, safeguarding concerns or difficult interactions with patients and relatives.

  However, the nature of these pressures differs between roles.

  Suggested survey questions:

  • I receive appropriate support when dealing with difficult patient interactions.

  • I understand the procedure for escalating threatening or abusive behaviour.

  • I feel able to seek assistance when a patient-facing situation becomes difficult.

  • The practice takes concerns about staff safety seriously.

  These questions can help managers understand whether employees have suitable support and escalation arrangements.

  Where employees report concerns, the practice may need to review training, incident reporting, communication procedures or how staff access assistance during difficult situations.

  The survey should focus on workplace arrangements rather than asking employees to disclose personal medical or psychological information.

• How should questions about role clarity and organisational change be written?

  Role clarity questions should establish whether employees understand their responsibilities, the limits of their authority and how their work fits with other members of the practice team.

  This can be particularly important where duties overlap between reception, administration, care navigation and clinical teams.

  Conflicting instructions or poorly defined responsibilities may create avoidable pressure even when workload volumes are otherwise manageable.

  Suggested questions about roles:

  • I understand what is expected of me in my role.

  • My responsibilities are clearly defined.

  • I know when a task or decision should be referred to another member of the team.

  • I have the training and information needed to carry out my responsibilities.

  Changes to appointment systems, clinical workflows, staffing structures or administrative processes can introduce additional uncertainty.

  Suggested questions about change:

  • Changes affecting my work are explained clearly.

  • I have opportunities to ask questions about new procedures.

  • I receive appropriate training when new systems or responsibilities are introduced.

  Separating these themes can help managers distinguish between problems with existing responsibilities and difficulties arising from recent changes.

• Should a staff wellbeing survey include open-ended questions?

  Open-ended questions allow employees to explain concerns that may not be fully captured by fixed response options.

  They can be particularly useful when a survey identifies a problem but does not explain its cause.

  However, too many free-text questions can make completion more demanding and the findings harder to analyse consistently.

  A small number of focused questions is usually more practical.

  Examples include:

  • What currently makes your role more difficult than it needs to be?

  • What one change would most improve your working experience?

  • Is there anything the practice does particularly well in supporting staff?

  • Is there another workplace issue you would like management to understand?

  Managers should consider how written responses will be handled before including these questions.

  In small teams, comments may contain details that identify individual employees, colleagues or particular incidents.

  Responses should not be shared indiscriminately, and managers should not attempt to establish who submitted anonymous feedback.

  Where a comment raises a potentially serious safety or employment concern, the practice should consider an appropriate response through established procedures, recognising the limitations of anonymous information.

• How should GP practices structure and score survey questions?

  A consistent response format makes it easier to compare answers across different topics and survey periods.

  For statements about working conditions, a five-point agreement scale may be suitable:

  • Strongly disagree

  • Disagree

  • Neither agree nor disagree

  • Agree

  • Strongly agree

  A 'Not applicable' option can also be useful where certain questions do not relate to every employee's duties.

  Questions should use straightforward language and address one issue at a time.

  For example, asking whether employees have sufficient time, training and support to complete their work combines three different subjects. A negative response would not reveal which area requires attention.

  Separating those issues produces clearer information.

  Practices should also avoid unnecessarily leading questions such as, "How satisfied are you with the excellent support provided by management?"

  Neutral wording helps reduce the risk of influencing responses.

  Where surveys are repeated, maintaining consistent questions and response scales can support meaningful comparisons over time.

  An overall score should not automatically be treated as a validated measure of wellbeing. Unless the practice is using an established instrument with an appropriate scoring method, results are better understood as indicators of staff experience.

• What should a Practice Manager check before issuing a survey?

  Before distributing a questionnaire, practice leaders should review whether its content and administration are appropriate for their workforce.

  Useful questions include:

  • Does every survey question have a clear purpose?

  • Are the main areas of working conditions adequately covered?

  • Are questions understandable to clinical and non-clinical employees?

  • Are questions neutral and focused on one subject at a time?

  • Can employees select 'Not applicable' where appropriate?

  • Is the survey short enough for staff to complete without unreasonable disruption?

  • Have confidentiality and potential identification risks been considered?

  • Do employees understand who will access the responses?

  • Is there a plan for interpreting and communicating the findings?

  • Have managers considered how concerns requiring immediate attention will be handled?

  A short explanation should accompany the survey, setting out why feedback is being collected and how it will inform practice management.

  Where a survey is described as anonymous, the practice must ensure that its design and reporting arrangements support that description.

• Common questions about GP practice staff wellbeing surveys

  How many questions should a GP practice staff wellbeing survey include?

  There is no prescribed number. The appropriate length depends on what the practice needs to understand. A short survey may be suitable for a specific operational issue, while a broader assessment may require more questions. The HSE's established Stress Indicator Tool contains 35 questions, but practices do not have to adopt that particular tool.

  Should all employees receive the same questions?

  Using a consistent core set can help identify common themes across the practice. Additional questions may be relevant to particular responsibilities, provided the practice considers confidentiality and the risk of identifying individuals in small teams.

  Should surveys ask employees about their mental health?

  A survey intended to understand organisational working conditions does not generally need to ask employees to disclose diagnoses or detailed personal health information. Sensitive health information requires appropriate data protection safeguards and should only be collected where there is a clear, justified purpose.

  Should staff be able to skip questions?

  Allowing employees to leave questions unanswered, or select a suitable 'Not applicable' option, may help avoid forcing responses that do not reflect their experience. The appropriate design will depend on the survey's purpose.

  Can practices write their own wellbeing survey questions?

  Yes. Practices can develop questions suited to their workforce and management needs. However, locally developed questionnaires should not automatically be described as validated measurement instruments. Established tools may be preferable where a practice requires a more formal assessment of work-related stress risks.

• A practical starting point

  A useful GP practice staff wellbeing survey does not need to cover every possible aspect of employment.

  It should provide a balanced understanding of the working environment and identify issues that may benefit from closer examination.

  Practice Managers could begin by:

  1. Identifying the purpose. Decide what the survey needs to establish and which management decisions the findings may inform.

  2. Selecting the main themes. Include questions about workload, support, communication, relationships and other issues relevant to the practice.

  3. Reviewing the wording. Ensure questions are neutral, understandable and suitable for employees with different responsibilities.

  4. Protecting confidentiality. Consider how responses will be collected, accessed, analysed and reported.

  5. Planning the response. Establish how findings will be reviewed and how staff will be informed about appropriate next steps.

  The quality of a staff wellbeing survey depends less on the number of questions than on whether those questions provide useful information.

  When carefully designed, a survey can help GP practices identify working conditions that require attention, understand employee experiences and make more informed workforce management decisions.