NHS staff survey blog 2024
Empowering staff voice
My 35 years’ experience working in the NHS has taught me many things. But key among them is that the more we listen and act on feedback (and really act on it) the better the outcome, not only for our staff but for patients too.
Lord Darzi’s recent report paints a deeply sobering picture of the current performance challenges NHS teams are managing day-to-day across the country.
It has never been more important we listen to each other and act. Although we are facing unprecedented challenges, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic – especially given our greatest strength is our NHS staff and leaders.
NHS staff are the beating heart of the service with a shared passion and determination for making the NHS better for patients.
Last year more than 700,000 people completed the NHS staff survey – more than ever before. This is really encouraging given the survey provides us with an accurate picture of what it is like to work in the NHS, and the basis for leaders to work across teams, organisations and systems to make things better for everyone who works in the NHS, and our patients and service users.
Tailored versions of the survey are also available to internal bank only workers and general practice colleagues. Whilst ensuring the opportunities and experiences of current NHS staff are positive, we also need to ensure the future talents we attract have a positive NHS experience.
That’s why the National education and training survey (NETS), which is open to all healthcare students, trainees, and apprentices, is crucial. We can gather valuable insights to support continuous improvement across the breadth of the NHS, right from the beginning of our colleagues’ careers.
Progress through the people promise
The NHS staff survey has been running for more than 20 years and this is the fourth year it has been aligned to the people promise. The people promise was developed through extensive engagement across the country and describes in the words of thousands of colleagues what they want when working in the NHS.
And it is through the people promise we are seeing progress being made. In 2023,128 organisations improved (46 by 0.10 or more) across all people promise elements and the 2 themes; staff engagement and morale. In the ‘we are safe and healthy’ element, no trusts showed a decline
Among the organisations who have seen significant improvements is The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust. I’m delighted to invite Daniel Hartley, Director of People to share how they have acted on their data to improve staff experience at their organisation.
Progress in the service – Daniel Hartley
Here at The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust we are really proud of the progress we have made in recent years measured by the NHS staff survey. Last year we saw big increases in response rate (up from 61% to 67%), our ‘recommend as a place to work’ measure was the second most improved in our benchmark group in England and our engagement score was our highest ever.
Our people are more positive about working here, turnover has reduced and our patients are receiving better care. Our adult inpatient, maternity and emergency care surveys have all shown marked improvements and we could not have achieved this without listening to the experience of our people and our patients.
What did we do?
As an executive team we are clear that people and culture are key to delivering excellent healthcare and that sets the tone. We recognise that engagement is more than ‘engaging with’ people and that strategies need to deliver tangible improvements. We have improved our rostering and reduced the number of moves we were asking our people to make to cover shortfalls on wards. We have worked to improve some of our changing and rest areas facilities.
We have focused on medical engagement and supported our diverse workforce celebrating our cultural diversity to foster belonging. Despite financial constraints, we have invested in leadership development in partnership with Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. We put in place a behavioural framework based on our values; ambitious, caring and together, and have a calendar of events aimed at bringing more joy to work, from festive events to awareness days with messages around nutrition and hydration and organ donation, which also benefit patients. All of these have contributed to our progress.
Thank you, Daniel. It’s great to hear how you’ve acted on what colleagues have told you will lead to improvements for them and patients. I’d encourage everyone to embrace the opportunity to take part in this year’s NHS staff survey. Look out for your invite and set aside 15 minutes to share what matters to you, and in doing so, you’ll help improve staff experience across the NHS.
Professor Em Wilkinson-Brice
Em Wilkinson-Brice is Director of Staff Experience and Leadership Development at NHS England. Em qualified as a nurse in 1992 in Exeter. She was appointed to NHS England in September 2019 following roles spanning over 30 years in the NHS bringing clinical operational experience, working at executive level as Director of Nursing and Facilities at Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Em returned to Exeter in July 2010 where she undertook various executive roles alongside the Chief Nurse role, including Chief Operating Officer, Deputy Chief Executive and lead for integration across Devon. In recognition of the close working partnership between the trust and 2 local universities, Em was awarded Associate Professor Faculty of Health and Human Sciences at both Exeter and Plymouth Universities.
Em has a keen interest in people and workforce, health and wellbeing, staff experience and organisational culture. She led on responding to the national workforce challenges of Covid-19. Em remains a practicing nurse and has a master’s degree in healthcare management and became a chartered fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development in 2022.
Daniel Hartley
Daniel is Executive Director of People at The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, a role that he loves.
Daniel has over 20 years’ experience in a range of people, organisational development and workforce roles having worked in local government and at NHS England before joining The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust in 2023.