Getting to good and outstanding
Our staff have given a vote of confidence to Barts Health as a learning organisation that takes action to ensure mistakes and near misses in care don’t happen again.
The latest NHS staff survey shows the Trust is consolidating recent improvements in employee morale and staff engagement despite the operational pressures experienced by all healthcare providers across the country.
Two-thirds praised the fairness and effectiveness of Trust procedures for dealing with errors, near misses and other patient care incidents (68%). An 8 per cent rise on the 2015 survey, this finding included how the Trust encourages the reporting of errors, treats staff involved, and learns lessons from them.
The findings are reflected in the Trust’s own blueprint to sustain the progress it has been making in providing safe and compassionate care to patients at all times. Getting to Good and Outstanding summarises the Trust's improvement plan drawn up in response to the Care Quality Commission upgrading the quality rating to “requires improvement” last year.
About one in two of the 17,000 Barts Health employees took part in the 2017 survey, compared to less than a third two years ago. Findings confirmed the 2016 progress, which showed the most improvement of the 175 Trusts polled by the Picker Institute.
- Two-thirds of staff now recommend the Trust as a place to work or receive treatment (66%), an increase of 10 percentage points since 2015
- Two-thirds now believe the Trust acts effectively on feedback from patients (67%), a 9-point increase
- Half now report good communication between managers and staff (49%), an 8-point increase
- Nine out of ten staff believe their role makes a difference to patients (90%).
However the findings also indicate rising NHS work pressures in the last 12 months, with a 4-point increase in those experiencing work-related stress (44%) and a 3-point rise in those working extra paid hours (35%). One in three staff complain of bullying, harassment of abuse from patients or relatives (32%), and one in seven say they experience physical violence (14%). These have both gone up slightly in the last year (by 2%), although the incidence of abuse from colleagues is down (by 3% since 2015) to 22%. One in seven also complain of discrimination at work (14%, up 1%), although a clear majority (72%, up 2%) believe the organisation provides equal opportunities for career progression.
Alwen Williams, Chief Executive of Barts Health, said:
“Our talented and dedicated staff do a fantastic job, and I am proud of the efforts they make to provide safe and compassionate care to our patients. We have invested a lot in staff health and well-being, and achieved national recognition for the career development of women and BME staff. We are listening to what they tell us about the day-to-day pressures of working in the NHS, and believe successful delivery of our exciting Trust-wide improvement programmes will reduce many of the frustrations they encounter.
“We have drawn up detailed improvement plans, not only to address outstanding issues raised in recent Care Quality Commission inspections but also to achieve for a rating of “good” and ultimately “outstanding.”