NHS England’s annual staff survey, which was published today (6 March), shows 38.4% of staff felt unwell due to work-related stress in the last 12 months, compared to 36.7% in 2016.
According to the survey, staff from mental health and learning disability trusts (41%) and ambulance trusts (49%) all reported higher-than-average levels of illness due to work-related stress.
And more than half (52.9%) of staff said they went into work in the last three months, despite feeling unwell, because they felt under pressure either from their manager, colleagues or themselves.
But more than four out of five health workers (81%) said they are satisfied with the quality of care they give to patients and nine out of 10 staff felt their organisation does take positive action on health and well-being.
Among the areas of concern highlighted by the research is that almost one in six members of staff, 15%, report that they have experienced physical violence from patients, relatives or members of the public.
The staff survey was published after NHS staff were widely praised for keeping services going during the recent “Beast from the East” cold weather snap.
“Staff are going above and beyond to deliver the best case under pressure and beyond to deliver the best care under pressure and these results show that staff appreciate the effects of managers to listen, support and act on staff concerns,” said NHS England’s director of patient experience, Neil Churchill.
“Nevertheless, there are warning signs NHS employers will need to do all they can to ensure NHS supports our staff to deliver the high standards expected by patients.”
The chief executive of NHS Employers, Danny Mortimer, commented: “The fact that more staff feel their managers and organisations support their health and wellbeing is positive and is a result of longstanding efforts by employers to address workplace health issues.
“The increasing focus on supporting staff through mental health issues is clearly having a positive impact and we are keen to share the lessons learnt from the NHS with other employers.”
To read the full 2017 NHS Staff Survey results click here:
http://www.nhsstaffsurveys.com/Page/1064/Latest-Results/2017-Results/
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, ‘Burnout, stress and being human’, Heather Beach is joined by Stacy Thomson to discuss burnout, perfectionism and how to deal with burnout as an individual, as management and as an organisation.
We provide an insight on how to tackle burnout and why mental health is such a taboo subject, particularly in the workplace.
