Hospitals in England that rank highly for empathy tend to deliver better patient outcomes and enjoy improved staff wellbeing, according to new research. The study also found that these institutions benefit financially by spending less on agency staff, locums, and external consultants.
First Study to Rate NHS Trusts by Empathy
The research is the first to score NHS trusts in England based on an empathy metric derived from organizational culture, leadership behavior, and practitioner empathy, among other factors. The findings indicate that even modest increases in a trust’s overall empathy score are associated with widespread benefits.
For example, higher empathy scores correlate with a greater likelihood of receiving a “good” or “outstanding” rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for effectiveness and patient safety. Additionally, trusts with higher empathy ratings report lower levels of staff burnout and absenteeism, and reduced expenditure on agency staff and external consultants.
Expert Insights
Prof Jeremy Howick from the University of Leicester, the study’s lead author, stated: “More empathic organisations have better patient outcomes, staff wellbeing and financial bottom lines. Empathy helps patients because they feel listened to. If you’re not listening to the patient, or they don’t feel able to share all their symptoms, you won’t understand what they are going through and you cannot make an accurate diagnosis.”
The study comes shortly after the BBC exposed mistreatment at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust’s maternity unit, where a lack of empathy was cited as a contributing factor to avoidable harm. Howick noted: “There’s a problem with lack of empathy leading to avoidable harm. I wouldn’t want to generalise, but there is a problem and it needs to be improved.”
Methodology and Findings
The researchers used publicly available data, including CQC ratings, NHS staff surveys, and financial accounts, to rank trusts on nine empathy-related areas. Staff surveys provided insights into whether trusts fostered a culture of empathy and whether employees felt recognized and rewarded.
The average NHS trust empathy score was six on a scale of one to ten. For every 2.5% increase in empathy score, the likelihood of a trust receiving a good or excellent CQC rating for patient safety rose by 76%, and for effectiveness by 46%. Top-scoring trusts saved hundreds of thousands of pounds on agency staff and consultants.
The research has been submitted to BMC Health Services Research and is provisional pending peer review. While the study establishes a link between empathy and positive outcomes, it does not prove causation. However, Howick argues that previous research supports the idea that empathy reduces pain, depression, and anxiety, and improves patient satisfaction and quality of life.
Top-Performing Trusts
Though the study does not identify the worst performers, the top trusts for empathy included Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, and Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.
Prof Jeffrey Braithwaite from Macquarie University commented: “Increasing empathy may well improve patient outcomes and has little downside. The danger is that empathy becomes another slogan on a poster or online training module. Real gains will come when NHS trusts redesign clinical work itself—staffing, workload, teamwork, psychological safety, and responsiveness to patients. That would make empathy more likely rather than merely hoped for.”
