Royal Bolton Hospital staff share thoughts on working for the NHS

Just over a third of staff working for the trust completed the NHS Staff Survey – a national survey,  which is said to be the one of the largest workforce surveys in the world.

The survey is designed to give a picture of what trusts are like as a place to work and receive care and to help organisations gain an insight into how staff feel about culture, their wellbeing, levels of engagement and motivation, equality, diversity and inclusion, safety and quality of care at their place of work.

Findings showed that there had been an increase in the numbers finding their ‘work emotionally exhausting” with an increase in staff unhappy with the pay they receive.

There was a fall in the number of staff who would recommend the organisation as a place to work, with fewer members of staff saying they would be happy with the standard of care provided by their organisation to friends and family.

Figures in the data are the organisation’s mean score based on all the individual responses to a given question, 2,081 completed questionnaires and a response rate of 36 per cent.

Positive findings include staff highlighting their commitment to each other as a strength of the organisation, with 8 in 10 people saying that they enjoy working as a team with their colleagues, and that people are kind and understanding to each other.

Equally, the positive learning culture of the organisation was ranked highly by 89 per cent of staff due to the approach taken to reporting errors, near misses or incidents.

Trust in staff to do their jobs and feeling that they make a difference were also highlighted as strengths in the survey.

A spokesman for the trust said: “As expected, there are some key areas where we know we need to make changes, but also some areas where our staff tell us we’re doing really well. This is reflective of the ongoing pressures of treatment backlogs, long waits in our emergency department, industrial action and fatigue and burnout following two years of the pandemic.

"Areas where we know we can do better include more support for staff to manage their health and wellbeing, helping them to feel happy and settled at work, and more support to work flexibly.

"For the fifth year running, we have placed highest of all acute and acute and community Trusts in Greater Manchester in several of the key areas. We’re so proud to be in this position, but know that the hard work doesn’t stop here."KEY FINDINGS: 

Dissatisfaction with the level of pay has increased hugely from 2021 to 2022.

In 2021, 40.2 per cent of staff said they were satisfied with their level of pay, however in 2022 this declined to 31.2 per cent.

Data also shows the number of people who ‘often think about leaving this organisation’, went from 26.3 per cent in 2021 to 29.6 per cent in 2022.

Fewer staff feel the care of patients is the organisation's top priority dropping from 79.8 per cent in 2021 to 76.8 per cent in 2022.

When asked the question ‘my organisation acts on concerns raised by patients and service users’, 77.3 per cent of staff agreed in 2021 compared to 74.6 per cent in 2022, showing a 2.7 per cent reduction.

When asked if staff would recommend the organisation as a place to work, staff answers went from 63.1 per cent in 2021 to 60.3 per cent in 2022, showing a reduction in the number of people who recommend the NHS as a place to work.

Staff percentages also decreased compared to 2021 when asked ‘if a friend or relative needed treatment I would be happy with the standard of care provided by this organisation’ Figures went from 67.8 per cent in 2021 to 62 per cent in 2022.

There was also an increase in the number of staff stating they found work ‘emotionally exhausting’.

Figures went from 34.7 per cent in 2021 to 38.1 per cent in 2022.

As well as looking at staff satisfaction within the NHS, the survey asked staff about the discrimination staff feel working at the NHS.

For ethnic backgrounds, staff were asked on what grounds did they feel discriminated, figures went from 30.7 per cent in 2021 to 39.3 per cent in 2022.

They were also asked on what grounds they felt discriminated in terms of religion.

Figures went from 2.6 per cent in 2021 to 10.5 per cent in 2022.

And in terms of sexual orientation discrimination, figures went from 2.2 per cent in 2021 to 5.7 per cent in 2022.

James Mawrey, Director of People and Deputy Chief Executive at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust said: “We know how tough things are for our staff at the moment, and that some days it must feel like an insurmountable battle.

“But our fantastic staff keep coming in day in, day out, to do their very best for the people of Bolton.

“I’m really pleased that yet again we’ve scored highest in our region in some key areas, and that tells us that this is a place our staff want to be.

“I’m not surprised to see that there are areas that we need to really strengthen and enhance, to give people the conditions they deserve to be working in and providing excellent care.

“Much of this we are already working on to the best of our ability, but where we are not, these results will help us to form our improvement plans for the future.

“I’m so grateful to each and every member of Team Bolton for both sharing their views, and being here every day to care for those that need it.”

NATIONAL PICTURE

Nationally, the standard of patient care in the NHS has fallen, staff have said in the survey, with more workers now unhappy and wanting to leave their jobs.

The results showed that more staff are feeling under pressure, do not feel they have enough time to do their job properly and are worried about standards of patient care.

Some 62.9 per cent were happy with the standard of care provided by their organisation in 2022, down from 67.8 per cent the previous year, 74.2 per cent in 2020 and 71.5 per cent in 2019.

The greatest decline was seen in the proportion of staff agreeing that if a friend or relative needed treatment, they would be happy with the standard of care provided by their workplace.

The report said some 62.9 percent agreed with this, “which is down 4.8 percentage points, and is now 11.3 percentage points lower than in 2020”.