NHS staff survey results continue to show higher than average engagement and morale and much more to do on equality and inclusion

NHS staff survey results continue to show higher than average engagement and morale and much more to do on equality and inclusion 30 Mar 2022

We perform especially well for staff saying that the care of patients is our number one priority and for recommending our organisation as a place to work and to be treated. Our trust also scores better than average on questions under the ‘NHS people promise’, ‘we are always learning’.

However, scores for staff engagement and morale have dropped by 0.2 points and 0.3 points, respectively, across both our own organisation and all acute trusts from the 2020 survey. And, while no other themes can be compared over time due to changes in how the survey questions are now structured, we scored below average for ‘promises’ where we are already committed to major improvement – ‘we are compassionate and inclusive’, ‘we are recognised and rewarded’, and ‘we are a team’. In particular, the latest survey results show that we have much to do to improve fairness and to tackle discrimination.

We achieved the average score for acute trusts for questions under the ‘promises’: ‘we are safe and healthy’, ‘we work flexibly’ and ‘we each have a voice that counts’.

Commenting on the results, chief executive Professor Tim Orchard said: “After two relentless years of Covid-19 and its wider impacts, it is sad but unsurprising that we have seen morale fall across the NHS. But that does not mean it is something we should accept. In fact, the demands ahead of us and the inequalities highlighted so starkly by the pandemic require us to focus even more effort on improving the working lives and wellbeing of all our people.

“Top priority – and our biggest challenge – to become a genuinely inclusive organisation in which everyone in our richly diverse workforce feels they are treated equally regardless of their ethnic background, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability or age. We are hearing what our staff are telling us, particularly through our staff networks, and making significant change – from overhauling our recruitment and disciplinary processes and rolling out race equity training for managers to introducing a new leadership programme and increasing investment in workplace adjustments for disabled staff. We have to go much further so that these developments - and the many more that need to follow – make a tangible, day-to-day difference for everyone.

“Improving equality and inclusion is also inextricably linked to wider culture change at all levels. We have made progress over the past few years, from when we involved thousands of our staff in co-designing our organisational vision and values and establishing our collective expectations of the behaviours this requires of us all. I’m very pleased that our people continue to feel more engaged and take pride in the care we offer and our commitment to learning. We will be focusing specifically on improving people management over the coming year, as well as continuing to build on our improved staff wellbeing offer.”

You can access the full results on nhsstaffsurveyresults.com

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