The 2018 NHS Staff Survey, completed by a record 3,655 Trust employees shows staff at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT) rate the Trust higher than ever and well above the national average in 9 of the 10 key themes including staff health and wellbeing, supportive management, staff morale, quality of appraisals, quality of care, safe environment against bullying harassment and violence, safety culture and staff engagement.
Crucially, 83 per cent of staff believe that care of patients is the Trust’s top priority, a significantly higher score than other Trusts and 12 per cent above the scores when staff were asked the same question back in 2014.
Kevin McGee, ELHT Chief Executive said: “Staff are going above and beyond to deliver the best care under pressure and these results show that staff appreciate the efforts of the Trust to listen, support and act on their concerns.
“In recent years, we have achieved consistent progress in improving our workplaces as we listen to what staff say, hear it and act on it. And that’s what we’ll continue to do.
“Improved staff satisfaction is also good news for our patients as there is a strong link between high levels of staff satisfaction and better services and outcomes for patients.”
Staff at Royal Blackburn and Burnley General teaching hospitals, Accrington Victoria, Clitheroe and Pendle community hospitals as well as community teams, took part in the national 2018 NHS Staff Survey.
Based on responses from 45 per cent of all Trust employees – up from 43 per cent in 2017 - staff rate East Lancashire Hospitals significantly above the national average for 79 of the survey’s 90 questions, and not significantly worse in any area.
70 per cent of staff say they would recommend the Trust as a place to work, while 76 per cent will happily recommend the Trust’s five hospitals and 17 community health facilities to people requiring care or treatment.
In comparison to other NHS trusts, ELHT scored favourably in treating staff involved in incidents or errors fairly, reducing the number of staff who come to work despite not feeling well enough to perform duties, satisfaction with levels of pay, and taking action to make sure mistakes do not happen again.
In addition, ELHT has a higher than average number of employees who agree that their role makes a difference, staff who are satisfied with levels of pay, the quality of training they receive and who have not experienced violence or harassment in the workplace.
Considering the pressures NHS staff are under, it’s no surprise the Trust has a small number of areas for improvement. Issues to tackle include the number of staff who put themselves under pressure to come to work when not feeling well (7 per cent), staff wanting more opportunities for flexible working (45 per cent) and increased levels of training and development (30 per cent).
Lee Barnes, ELHT Head of Staff Wellbeing and Engagement, said: “We want to underline how important it is to hear staff views and concerns. We need their help to continually improve the services and support we offer, both for patients and our own workforce.
“The majority of our staff are happy and confident, but over the next few months we’ll be taking a closer look at what more needs to be done so we continue to provide a work environment that all our employees deserve.”
Positive results from the 2018 NHS Staff Survey add to East Lancashire Hospitals’ strong reputation for staff health and wellbeing, following the Trust’s success in winning ‘Creating a Supportive Staff Culture’ category at the Health Service Journal Awards 2018.
The full survey results can be found on the NHS staff survey site from Tuesday 26 February