WIREDGOV

Survey reveals national picture of staff experience.

Staff working in Scotland’s health service feel increasingly positive about the overall experience of working for NHS Scotland, a nationwide survey has shown.

The NHS Scotland Staff Survey 2014, published yesterday, saw an increased response rate to the questionnaire – with an extra 10,000 staff members completing the survey.

Compared to last year’s survey, 12 per cent more staff agreed the care of patients was their health board’s top priority and 61 per cent would recommend their workplace as a good place to work – up 10 per cent on 2013.

79 per cent of respondents agreed they get the help and support they need from colleagues, with 86 per cent saying they are clear what their duties and responsibilities are.

90 per cent of NHS staff said they were happy to go the ‘extra mile’ at work when required.

Health Secretary Shona Robison yesterday met with staff at Ninewells Hospital to discuss the results of the survey and pledged to work with health boards to further improve staff experience.

She said: “Staff are the cornerstone of our health service and without their commitment and dedication, NHS Scotland simply wouldn’t be able to provide the same high standards of patient care.

“This annual feedback from staff throughout the organisation is extremely important in letting us know what is going right and where we can make improvements.

“Under this government, NHS staff numbers have risen to record levels, with increasing numbers of consultants, nurses and midwives delivering care for the people of Scotland this year.

“Clearly it is welcome that increasing numbers of staff find working for Scotland’s NHS a positive experience and there are definite indications that we are moving in the right direction.

“However that is not to say that there aren’t challenges to be addressed, in particular making staff feel more engaged and involved in the decisions being made within their health board.

“It is paramount we learn from these findings, and I will be expecting all health boards to take their individual survey results away and look at how they might make changes to further improve staff experience.

“In addition the Scottish Government will be working in partnership with professional bodies, unions and health boards to examine these finding and discuss how we will work to further improve the experience of staff working in Scotland’s NHS.”

A total of 55,077 NHS Scotland staff responded to the survey, which represents a 35 per cent response rate – an increase in participation of 7 per cent compared to 2013.

The survey shows that in 26 out of the 29 national core questions, more staff responded positively compared to last year.

The key findings include:

• 90 per cent of staff said they were happy to go the ‘extra mile’ at work when required (an increase of 3 per cent since 2013)
• 67 per cent said the care of patients or service users was a top priority for their health board (an increase of 12 per cent since 2013)
• 61 per cent would recommend their workplace as a good place to work (a 10 per cent rise from last year)
• 86 per cent of staff are clear what their duties and responsibilities are (an increase of 3 per cent since 2013)
• 6 per cent said they had experience unfair discrimination from their manager in the last 12 months (down from 8 per cent in 2013)
• 9 per cent said they had experienced bullying or harassment from their manager (down 2 per cent on 2013)

Notes To Editors

The NHS Scotland Staff Survey Report 2014 is available online at:www.scotland.gov.uk/nhsstaffsurvey2014

The total NHS workforce (excluding GPs and dentists) has increased by 2,513 whole-time equivalent (WTE) posts over the past year to a total of 136,684 posts – an increase of 1.9 per cent.

Under the current Government, the NHS Scotland workforce has increased by 7.6 per cent, with over 9,600 more WTE staff.

NHS consultant numbers have increased by 36.8 per cent increase - with over 1,300 more WTE consultants since 2006.

Figures show the number of qualified nurses and midwives has also increased by 3.9 per cent under this government, while the number of Allied Health Professionals has increased by more than 240 WTE in the last year alone.