NHS poll shows shortfall in care and hand washing
pharmafile | April 14, 2008 | News story | |Â Â Â
Less than half of NHS staff believes patient care is a top priority for trusts, according to a survey from the Healthcare Commission.
The poll also found that only 61% of staff always had access to hand-washing equipment – up by only 1% from 2005, despite government claims that fighting infection is high on its agenda.
The results are part of the 2007 annual report from the NHS watchdog, which polled 156,000 staff and included responses from all 391 trusts in the country.
The Healthcare Commission has said the statistics should be used to improve the working lives of NHS workers, and that trusts scoring poorly on these issues need to address them properly.
Anna Walker, the Commission's chief executive, said: "As one of the largest employers in the world, the NHS needs to be aware of and responsive to how staff are coping. Each trust is a unique working environment and local results highlight the challenges particular to each of them."
The poll also showed that only 26% of those who responded thought their trust valued their work, a figure down from 28% in 2005.
It also indicated violence and bullying is relatively high in the NHS compared to other sectors, and 13% of staff said they had experienced physical violence in 2007.
But there were some positive results to the poll – 94% of staff said they took part in some form of training. The response also indicated that staff had strong support from their line managers, and 73% said they take advantage of flexible working options.
Responding to the survey Alastair Henderson, acting director of NHS Employers, which represents trusts on workforce issues, said: "Overall, the results show that the NHS remains a good place to work. It is encouraging that key measures of being a good employer, such as job satisfaction, training and development, work-life balance and health at work, have improved again this year."
He also said more should be done in areas of bullying and harassment, and pledged to work with NHS trade unions to understand why some trusts perform better than others in this area and to share the knowledge of the best.
