07.03.17
Staff satisfaction improves slightly despite NHS challenges, but bullying on the rise
The NHS workforce has seen a gradual improvement in satisfaction over the past year, despite increasing pressures on A&E departments and tightening budgets, the NHS staff survey released today has revealed.
The review took into account the opinions of 423,000 healthcare workers anonymously about a number of areas including equality and diversity, job satisfaction, health and wellbeing and working patterns amongst other topics.
A large part of the findings actually found that job satisfaction had gone up as people surveyed rated their job satisfaction at 3.75 (out of 5), a gradual improvement from 2012 when it stood at 3.57. It was also added that almost three-quarters (74%) of staff said that they felt enthusiastic about their job.
The positive results will come as a surprise to some after it was recently revealed that the condition of the workplace on the frontline was “shocking”, as the RCP reported that doctors were suffering with a lack of beds and long hours to keep hospital departments keeping up with demand.
However, there were worrying signs elsewhere in the report. Despite the fact that the proportion of staff who reported feeling unwell due to work-related stress had gone down to its lowest level since 2012, at 37%, 60% of staff did say that over the last three months they had come into work despite feeling unable to perform their role.
There were also some concerning statistics about bullying and harassment, as 15% of staff said they had experienced physical violence from patients, relatives or members of the public last year, a figure which has not decreased or improved since 2012.
In addition, the proportion of staff who said they had suffered harassment on at least one occasion also increased from last year to 28%, whilst one in eight staff (13%) also said that they had experienced harassment or bullying from their manager one of more times.
The proportion of staff having to work extra hours also stayed at a similar level to the previous year, at around 73%.
It was also found that the proportion of staff who said they were happy with their pay had stayed the same since 2015 at 37%, adding further evidence to claims from the RCN yesterday that the NHS needed more funding to give its staff a fair living wage and ensure nurses did not need to rely on hardship grants to make ends meet.
Commenting on the survey’s results, Danny Mortimer, CEO of NHS Employers said: “Despite incredible pressures on our workforce, their commitment and resilience shines through” adding: “Against all the odds, staff are generally feeling better at work and more confident in the care they provide. This is a tribute to them and the teams and managers they work with.”
Mortimer did also recognise that there were many areas of improvement in the NHS workplace: “There are areas of real concern, however. Organisations across the NHS must do more to address bullying and the poorer experience of BME colleagues. Members of the public who abuse our staff must know they will be held accountable for their actions.
He concluded: “The survey shows that efforts to improve the NHS workplace are being effective. The task going forward is to keep sharing good practice and to keep ensuring national and local leaders listen to staff and provide the support they need to make it through this difficult period.”
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