Dr Kristin Hussey, Lecturer in Environmental History in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, has received £1.29 million from Wellcome to produce the first history of the hospital night shift in England and Scotland. As well as examining the social history of the night shift going back 175 years, the study will investigate the experiences and the challenges of today's hospital night workers and identify ways to drive practical change across the NHS.

This grant comes from the Wellcome’s highly competitive Career Development Award, which aims to drive innovation across all branches of the sciences and humanities.

The project, entitled The Night Shift 1850-Present: Reimaging Sleep, Work and Wellbeing for Healthcare Professionals in English and Scottish Hospitals, will explore how long-standing work cultures have normalised unsafe and unsustainable working conditions for doctors, nurses and ward-based support workers, such as healthcare assistants and porters.

Dr Hussey said: “I’m excited to be able to demonstrate that humanities research can make a real-world, practical contribution to health and wellbeing. By bringing together historical research, and insights from night shift workers in the North East alongside NHS Trusts, educational institutions and policymakers, we’ll be developing practical approaches aimed at improving the well-being of night shift workers in British hospitals.”

Historical insights to underpin safer working practices

Starting in January 2027, over the course of the next five and a half years, Newcastle University researchers will take a three-pronged approach, exploring the lived experiences of nighttime working environments, current policy approaches to managing overnight care, and scientific and medical research into how night shift work practically affects healthcare workers.

As part of this, researchers will collaborate with three NHS Trusts, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust. They will interview hospital staff about their experiences of working night shifts, and work with them to develop prototype methods to improve night working culture.

Researchers will work with Northumbria University and Edinburgh Napier University, two of the largest nursing education providers in Britain, to develop new Higher Education materials. They will also collaborate with the Royal College of Nursing on a public exhibition and events programme.

Professor Alison Steven, Professor of Research in Nursing and Health Professions Education at Northumbria University, commented: “I'm delighted to support this fascinating and important project led by Dr Hussey, which brings a fresh historical perspective to night shift working. Night shift working is an area I know well through my previous research and current Workforce Voices work into NHS workforce fatigue. I look forward to seeing it translate into practical change for today's NHS staff.”

Professor Vari M Drennan, Chair, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) History of Nursing Forum, said: “I am delighted that the RCN History of Nursing Forum is collaborating with this project. The history of night shifts has rarely been the focus of study, and this project will uncover important information about this integral part of nurses' lives and nursing. Greater understanding of the history and context of night shift work will enable us to better support nursing staff across the UK through the RCN’s current work on policy and professional guidance.”

Informing policies for healthcare professionals

Insights from this research will be used to improve the wellbeing of night shift workers. As part of the project, the team will bring together local policymakers and healthcare professionals in policy workshops hosted by Insights North East, and work with the Sleep Charity to develop a policy and practice toolkit.

Dr Emily Rainsford, Research and Evidence Lead at Insights North East, said: “At Insights North East we bridge the gap between academic evidence and policy making. We are excited to work with Dr Hussey on this project to support the work on integrating and translating the findings into actionable insights for the right people at the right level in the policy ecosystem. We also look forward to contributing to the broader understanding of how history as a discipline can have impact on current policy making."

This research is being funded by Wellcome, a global charitable foundation which supports discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, with a particular focus on mental health, infectious diseases, and climate and health.

Thomas Bray, Senior Research Manager for Discovery Research at Wellcome, said: “This highly innovative research will generate crucial new insights into the experiences of hospital workers on the night shift, particularly by illuminating the historical, social and political contexts. We are delighted to support Dr Hussey's project. The bold, creative approach, alongside engagement with today’s healthcare workers, is a great example of how humanities research can help support breakthroughs that improve health for everyone.”