More than half (57%) of NHS staff are working more than their contracted hours and 84% said that their workload had increased in the last year, according to a recent union survey.

The research found that 65% of staff working more than their contracted hours were not getting paid for this extra work.

It found that 77% of respondents blamed additional duties and responsibilities for their extra hours, 47% said it was down to insufficient sickness, maternity or holiday cover, and another 45% identified vacancy freezes and redundancies as the cause.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “Staff working in the health service are proud of the jobs they do and are totally committed to improving patient care and the services in the hospitals in which they work. But recent recruitment freezes and redundancies are leaving health employees with bigger workloads and unpaid overtime is increasingly becoming the norm. No wonder that staff complain of the effect that changes in the last year have had on morale and motivation.”

The survey, undertaken for the unions by Incomes Data Services, found that 54% of the NHS staff questioned reported that their increased workload had led to them experiencing increased levels of stress which was having a negative impact on their relationships with family and friends. While 42% who had more work to do said the extra stress was also damaging their health.

The research also found that 61% of the NHS staff told researchers that their motivation and morale had worsened in the past 12 months and 60% had considered leaving their job in the last year.