ALT Picture of NHS staff in PPE with article: Staff burnout across the NHS and social care in England has reached an “emergency level” and poses a serious risk to the future functioning of services, a parliamentary inquiry has concluded. An inquiry by the Commons Health and Social Care Committee found that staff shortages were ultimately the biggest driver of workforce burnout, which was described to MPs as feelings of low energy or exhaustion, increased negative feelings about the job, and reduced effectiveness. Excessive workload was identified as the key predictor of staff stress and intention to quit, and of patient dissatisfaction, and was highly associated with level of errors. The MPs criticised NHS workforce planning, which they described as “at best opaque and at worst was responsible for unacceptable pressure on staff.”