Survey reveals NHS staff feel trusted to do their jobs following challenging pandemic year; but work remains in other areas.
Staff at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust say they are trusted to do their jobs in a year that has seen many of them redeployed or working on a COVID-19 specific ward or area.
The staff survey, which is run annually by all NHS Trusts, invites members of staff to answer questions about what it is like working at HHFT. As a result of the 2019 survey, a number of changes were made over the course of 2020, including an improved focus on staff safety and incident reporting, a comprehensive staff wellbeing offer throughout the pandemic, and a range of new internal staff communications and leadership engagement strategies.
Alex Whitfield, chief executive at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “We know we have more work to do but it’s really promising that out of 10 possible areas, we’ve improved in seven compared to 2019.
“One of the improvements I am most proud of is that since the last survey, more people would recommend the trust as a place to work. Not only does this help our recruitment efforts but, most importantly, it is an incredible vote of confidence in the trust by the people best placed to know – our wonderful, utterly fantastic, staff.”
Staff engagement at the trust, which runs Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital, Royal Hampshire County Hospital, in Winchester, and Andover War Memorial Hospital, stands at 71 per cent – in line with other trusts nationally. Ninety two per cent of staff who responded to the survey reported that they feel trusted to do their job in a year that saw 41 per cent of respondents working on a COVID-19 specific ward or area at any time.
In addition, 26 per cent of staff who completed the survey say they were redeployed due to the pandemic; something which is totally unprecedented.
In, arguably the most challenging year in NHS history, 70 per cent of staff who responded feel encouraged to motivate others in their area of work and 64 per cent feel they have the capability to become a leader in their area of work.
Elsewhere, 82 per cent of respondents said that they think care of patients is the organisation’s top priority, an increase from 2019 and significantly above the national average. In addition more staff would recommend HHFT as a place to work compared to last year - with a rise of six per cent year on year.
In a significant change, more than a quarter of staff who responded to the 2020 survey have been required to work from home during the pandemic and 77 per cent of those felt the trust had made adequate adjustments to enable them to carry out their work remotely.
Catherine Hope-MacLellan, director of people at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I am thankful to every member of staff who completed the survey – particularly given the incredible pressure we have experienced in 2020.
“Following such a difficult year, the survey has highlighted so many strengths and this demonstrates not only how well we can work together but also the resilience and commitment of every person who works for the trust.”
Whilst generally positive, there are a number of areas of concern; with falls in awareness of the trusts values and objectives recorded and – of particular importance – a rise in staff who felt stressed due to work.
“The past year has been challenging for our staff on every level imaginable,” said Catherine. “We have put in place extensive measures to help support them – for instance an online wellbeing hub to help with increased pressures – but know we need to go further and are committed to doing so.
“These insights are not all comfortable but all of them are important as they will help shape our strategy for the years ahead.”
Full results for the trust can be found at www.nhsstaffsurveyresults.com.
