‘Too few staff’ blamed for NHS shortcomings

A similar number experienced conflicting demands on their time at work and almost one in three often thought about leaving their jobs.

The poll of almost 165,000 staff in England presented a mixed picture of life working in the NHS.

Some improvements were reported compared with last year’s survey, including more staff receiving appraisals – up 8 per cent to 77 per cent.

Some 64 per cent would be happy with the standard of care provided by their health trusts if friends or relatives needed treatment, up from 62 per cent last year, with 11 per cent disagreeing and 26 per cent neither agreeing or disagreeing.

Overall, 90 per cent of staff believed their roles ultimately made a difference to patients, and 62 per cent were able to do their jobs to standards they are personally pleased with, while 21 per cent disagreed.

However, 42 per cent believed they “cannot meet all the conflicting demands” on their time at work, while 32 per cent thought they could and 27 per cent neither agree or disagree.

About 45 per cent did not think there were enough staff at their workplaces for them to do their jobs properly, while 32 per cent agreed there was and 23 per cent neither agreed nor disagreed.

Overall, 84 per cent said they “often do more than is required” and only 27 per cent agreed that “senior managers try to involve staff in important decisions”, with 43 per cent disagreeing and 30 per cent neither agreeing or disagreeing.

Half agree “senior managers where I work are committed to patient care”, with 15 per cent disagreeing and 35 per cent neither agreeing or disagreeing.

About 40 per cent of NHS staff were satisfied or very satisfied with their levels of pay, compared with 34 per cent who were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied.

Almost one in three (32 per cent) had seen at least one error, “near miss” or incident that could have hurt staff or patients in the last month, compared with 33 per cent the previous year.

Of front-line staff, 42 per cent said they had witnessed at least one such incident in the last month, down from 43 per cent in 2009.

But only 36 per cent had received training in the last year on what to do if there was a major incident or emergency, while 21 per cent were trained more than a year ago, 38 per cent had received no training and 6 per cent said it did not apply to them.

About 67 per cent of NHS staff had been trained on infection control in the last year while 8 per cent of staff reported experiencing physical violence from patients, relatives or other members of the public and 15 per cent said they had been subjected to bullying, harassment and abuse.

Nine out of 10 said they were trusted to do their jobs.

The results of the survey, carried out at 388 trusts, were published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and covered staff including doctors, nurses, administrators and radiographers.

CQC chief executive Cynthia Bower said: “The survey results will help trusts to pinpoint what else they can do to support and develop staff to ensure they can provide the best care for patients.”

Dr Peter Carter, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “These figures show that NHS staff are working harder than ever to improve care under difficult circumstance.”

Dave Prentis, general secretary of the Unison union, said: “It is positive to see some improvements, but the results should not lull managers into a false sense of security.

“The survey was taken last autumn before the full force of the Government’s squeeze on NHS finances and the details of the health Bill were fully realised.

“There is a very real danger that any improvements will be short-lived and wiped out very quickly.”