The staff survey results for Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust in 2008 show a big improvement on last year.

Director of Human Resources Christine Lloyd-Jennings said: “This is better for staff and heartening for the Board to hear. The number of staff reporting positive things, such as having infection control measures in place, receiving an annual appraisal and being given learning and development opportunities is a great improvement on last year.

“I am delighted to say that only five acute hospital trusts in the country had an appraisal rate higher than ours. This is testament to everyone’s commitment to making sure that these reviews happen, as they benefit all staff.

“Both my Trust Board colleagues and myself know there are still areas in which we need to improve, but it is really pleasing to know that, compared with last year, more staff find their jobs interesting, feel there are opportunities to learn and develop and want to stay with the organisation.

“We have a considerable team of highly skilled people at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust from the doctors, nurses, receptionists and therapists who provide front line care to the many people who work behind the scenes in our laboratories, as medical secretaries and administrators, those servicing the complex array of IT systems, our facilities and estates team to name a few. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their continued hard work – which makes such a difference to patients.”

The Trust had one of the highest response rates in the country. 843 of the Trust’s 6,500 staff were chosen at random and invited to complete the survey, of those 501 (59%) responded. This puts the organisation in the top 20% of all acute trusts in the country for the percentage of staff who responded.

Key Positive Findings

Infection Control
 96% of staff say hand-washing materials are either always or mostly available – up from 92% in 2007
 64% of staff have been trained in Infection Control in the last 12 months – up from 58% in 2007 87% of staff believe that the Trust does enough to promote the importance of hand washing to staff – up from 81% in 2007

Quality of Care
 88% believe their role makes a difference to patients
 98% of staff reporting errors, near misses or incidents – as measured by Key Finding 22 which is 2% higher than the national average. The Trust actively encourages staff to report all incidents. This creates a greater awareness of commitment to patient safety amongst staff, allows us to investigate each incident thoroughly and provides us the best opportunity for learning.

Staff Job Satisfaction
 84% of staff say they have an interesting job – compared with 81% nationally as measured by Key Finding 4.
 80% of staff report having had an appraisal in the last 12 months, 15% higher than the national average. This is up from 56% last year and places the organisation as the sixth highest in the country for appraisal rates.
 83% of staff have received job-relevant training, learning or development in the last 12 months - as measured by Key Finding 12. This is 2% higher than the national average for acute trusts.
 68% of staff report that their training, learning and development has helped them do their job better.
 83% of staff say they feel valued by their work colleagues – as measured by Key Finding 3.
 19% of staff say they have experienced harassment, bullying or abuse at work from patients. This is a decrease on last year when 22% of staff reported the same.
 61% of staff agree that the Trust takes effective action if staff are physically attacked – higher than the national average.
 35% of staff often think about leaving the organisation. This is down 10% on last year.
 More staff in Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust felt supported by their immediate line manager than in acute hospital trusts around the country

Key Areas for Improvement

 Feeling Valued: Only 23% of staff are satisfied with the extent to which the Trust values their work. This is up 8% on last year but there is still some way to go. 34% of staff were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the extent to which the Trust values their work. Nationally, 31% of staff reported being satisfied with the extent to which their organisation values their work.
Action: The Board is committed to achieving a 100% rate of appraisal for all staff and developing leaders and managers across the organisation so that they better demonstrate to staff how much they value them.

 Working Flexibly: Less than half of all staff, 34%, agree that the Trust is committed to balancing their work and home life. This is 6% below the national average.
Action: The Trust is going to reviews its flexible working policy and communicating this to line managers. All applications for flexible working will be more closely monitored and reviewed.

 Being Involved and Consulted: Only 44% of staff say they are consulted about changes that affect their department or team. This is up from 41% last year but clearly staff need to be better involved and engaged. The Trust is currently completing a six-month Listening into Action project to find out how staff want to be communicated with and involved. An action plan is being developed as a result of this process.

 Conflicting Demands: 47% of staff agreed said that they could not meet all the conflicting demands on them whilst at work. This compares with 40% saying the same thing nationally.
Action: To be via assessed and addressed appraisals and undertake stress audits.