Imperial College Healthcare achieves best ever NHS staff survey results
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust achieved its third consecutive year of improvement in the 2023 national NHS staff survey, published today. It is now above the acute trust average in seven out of nine themes, up from five out of nine in 2022 and three out of nine in 2021. The Trust saw statistically significant increases in results for eight out of nine themes this year.
The results draw on a record response rate for the Trust - 61 per cent of its 15,000 staff, well above the average response rate of 45 per cent sent for all acute trusts.
The Trust continues to score particularly highly in a number of key areas:
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The proportion of its staff who would recommend their organisation as a place to work and who would be happy with the standard of care provided by their organisation for a friend or relative, at 8 and 10 percentage points above the acute trust average respectively.
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Responses under the theme, ‘we are always learning’, with one of the highest scores for all acute trusts for opportunities to improve knowledge and skills at work.
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Responses under the theme ‘staff engagement’, which includes motivation, involvement and advocacy.
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Responses under the theme ‘morale’ which delivered one of Trust’s biggest improvements in scores.
There was also a clear correlation between themes with significantly improved scores and major developments the Trust has been undertaking, prompted by previous staff surveys and other feedback:
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The Trust increased its scores for all four questions under the theme ‘we are compassionate and inclusive’, moving above the average overall for acute trusts for the first time. The Trust has invested in a range of initiatives over the past five years to promote equality, diversity and inclusion, including measures to encourage fairness in recruitment which is helping to increase the number of staff from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds appointed to band 7 roles and above.
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The Trust has also seen the impact of its ‘improvement through people management’ programme in the increase in scores for questions under the theme ‘we are a team’. The programme provides targeted training for every person in the Trust with a line management responsibility, helping them to create an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment for their staff.
While continuing to build on progress across the board, the survey indicates the Trust needs more focus on ‘flexible working’ and ‘reward and recognition', where it is at or just below the acute trust average.
Professor Tim Orchard, chief executive of Imperial College Healthcare, said: “I’m extremely encouraged by the marked improvement in our scores this year, demonstrating real progress in the development of our organisational culture. Despite the many challenges we’ve had to manage, we have continued to prioritise the need to live our values – to be kind, collaborative, aspirational and expert – and, above all, to become a genuinely inclusive organisation, for our staff, patients and local communities. We have much more to do – and perhaps an even tougher year ahead – but we have a great foundation on which to build.”
