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Press release: Staff survey shows NHS is moving in the right direction but more still needs to be done, says NHS Employers

22 Mar 2005

'Employers are continuing to improve the workplace for NHS staff, but there is still more that we need to do', says Steve Barnett, director of NHS Employers, today in response to the staff survey results.

The results, released by the Healthcare Commission, show that the drive to improve the working lives of NHS staff has again had a positive impact with satisfaction levels maintained or improved in a number of key areas.

Improvements are evident in areas where employers have focused particular attention, such as the violence, bullying and harassment of staff and work-related stress. However, more clearly needs to be done in these areas and in others indicated by the survey.

Steve Barnett says: The results are an encouraging reflection of the views of staff and show that generally NHS employees are satisfied with working in the NHS. This is a real testament to the improvements that have been made in recent years and is reflected in the high rating of the quality of senior management leadership.

I am particularly encouraged to see that, on the whole, the trend is moving in the right direction and things are getting better. In particular, there is evidence of an improvement in HR and management practices with more staff receiving training, appraisals and personal development opportunities. There is also evidence that more staff feel supported by their employers, for example in cases of abuse by patients or relatives.

But it is also clear that there is more work to be done. The figures relating to violence and bullying in the workplace are still unacceptable. The improvements each year, albeit slight, are welcome and our challenge for the future is to drive this improvement at a faster pace.

NHS Employers is leading on the work in many of the areas covered by the survey and we will ensure that our work programme is shaped by the survey findings. We will continue to work closely with the Healthcare Commission, staff-side organisations and employers in the NHS to continue to improve the work life of NHS staff.

In particular, NHS Employers will take forward a number of initiatives including:

• working in partnership with NHS employers and staff organisations, NHS Employers is building on work already underway to address the issues raised by the staff survey. For example, a campaign on stress in the workplace - particularly highlighting issues around work-related stress and the costs to the individual and organisation
• scoping the future direction of Improving Working Lives, with a particular focus on individual professional groups.

Key survey findings are:

• Employers have made progress at a national level on key areas highlighted by the last survey.
• The proportion of staff who had experienced physical violence, bullying, harassment or abuse is down 1per cent on 2003. There are also increases in the proportion of staff who felt that their employers took effective action when staff were attacked, abused or harassed.
• No change in amount of work pressure felt by staff but the proportion of staff suffering from work-related stress dropped per cent.
• The proportion of staff who had received an appraisal has increased from 60 to 63 per cent. The proportion with personal development plans has risen slightly from 49 to 51 per cent.
• The proportion of staff receiving training has risen from 89 to 93 per cent.
• The proportion of staff receiving training in equal opportunities or awareness of gender, race, disability, religion, bullying or harassment has decreased 2 to 42per cent.
• Little change in the proportion of staff who think about leaving their current employer.

Notes for editors

1. NHS Employers is part of the NHS Confederation but has its own director, policy board and assembly.

Contact details

The press office provides a comprehensive service to keep journalists informed about the work of NHS Employers.

If you have a media enquiry, please contact the press office team:

• Gemma Jeffcoate
  0207 074 3308 or gemma.jeffcoate@nhsemployers.org
• Emma Stafford
  0207 074 3307 or emma.stafford@nhsemployers.org

For out of hours media enquiries, please contact the duty press officer on 07880 500726.

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