01.03.13
NHS Staff Survey highlights extent of work-related stress
Only 63% of staff would be happy with the standard of care provided by their organisation if a friend or relative needed treatment, the 2012 NHS Staff Survey has found.
Nearly 40% of NHS staff said they had felt unwell during the year because of work-related stress.
The RCN says the survey shows that things are generally getting worse, with staff facing a range of pressures.
The survey includes responses from 101,000 staff and aims to help review and improve staff experience, monitor ongoing compliance and support better commissioning decisions.
Of 28 key findings, 11 were better than in 2011, 1 remained the same, 9 deteriorated and 7 could not be compared due to changes in the questions.
63% of staff would be happy with the standard of care provided by their organisation if a friend or relative needed treatment and only 40% were satisfied with the extent to which they feel the trust values their work.
Just 35% of staff felt that communications between senior managers and staff is effective. More staff had an appraisal in 2012 – 83%, up from 80% in 2011. 15% had experience physical violence from patients, their relatives or other members of the public and 38% have felt unwell as a result of work-related stress.
Louise Silverton, director for midwifery at the Royal College of Midwives, highlighted the number of midwives reporting that they do not have enough staff to do their job well is “a real concern”.
She added: “Midwives are one of the most dissatisfied groups when it comes to job satisfaction. These results show that not only are midwives deeply frustrated by this, but that the service is perhaps too often not offering the quality of care midwives want to deliver and women should expect.”
Dr Peter Carter, chief executive & general secretary of the RCN, added that the NHS needs empowered and supported staff as it faces huge challenges.
He said: “In struggling to meet their daily demands, more than four in ten nurses said they had suffered from work-related stress in the last twelve months. Meanwhile 81% are working extra hours just to get the job done. Unfortunately, the strains of doing this are showing, with more staff reporting being unwell due to stress.”
Dr Carter added that “things are getting worse, and a picture is being painted of staff under pressure, and patients experiencing frustration and delays”.
Dean Royles, chief executive of the NHS Employers organisation, said: “Given the concerns expressed by the Francis report about NHS culture, it’s really important that these figures are available transparently and openly for the public and staff to scrutinise.
“It's a remarkable achievement that staff report improvements in so many areas, crucially including overall levels of patient care. Amid all the uncertainties and concerns around the Health and Social Care Bill, efficiency drives, industrial action, pay freezes and pension increases these are a set of good results.”
He noted that there are some areas for improvement, including around stress and longer working hours, as well as building a culture where staff feel confident to report concerns.
“I believe the way we have worked with trade unions on some very challenging issues provides an ideal base on which to jointly work on these issues and can make a real difference to patient care.”
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