NHS staff feel undervalued.

The results of the 2007 NHS staff survey suggest a breakdown of communication between staff and senior management, but nonetheless staff morale remains fairly high.

Less than a quarter of staff agreed that senior managers involve staff in important decisions and that communication between senior management and staff is effective.

Only two-fifths of staff were satisfied with the recognition they get and only a quarter said that they were satisfied, or very satisfied, with the extent to which the trust values their work. This emerges as the single most common reason given by those thinking of leaving their jobs.

Although staff think they are being kept in the dark – and despite the amount of change taking place across the NHS – job satisfaction remains high and similar to levels of recent years.

This is partly due to high levels of support that most staff get from their work colleagues (75% of staff were satisfied or very satisfied), as well as satisfaction with the amount of responsibility they are given (68% were satisfied or very satisfied), and the opportunities to use their skills (64% were satisfied or very satisfied).

Results also showed there is a generally high level of support for immediate managers. 71% of respondents agreed that their immediate manager encouraged them to work as a team, and similar proportions felt that he or she was supportive in a crisis (71%) or could be counted on to help with difficult tasks (67%).

Just over half of staff (51%) felt their immediate manager asked for their opinions before making decisions that would affect their work (51%), and a similar proportion (53%) said their manager gave them clear feedback.

Nearly 156,000 employees from all 391 NHS trusts in England responded to the survey questionnaire asking about their views and experiences of working in the service. Just over half of all NHS staff asked to complete the survey responded, which is comparable with previous years.

Anna Walker, the Commission’s CEO, said: “Staff in the NHS provide vital, often life-saving care. Yet they do not feel their work is valued by their trust and that communication with senior management is poor. These are things that trusts can and must change.”

Pam Black, radiology clinical business manager at Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, added: "The main two areas of dissatisfaction highlighted in the survey indicate that senior managers do not communicate sufficiently with their staff and that many staff feel undervalued by their trusts.

"Managers are expected to have a wide ranging knowledge of the department they manage, but are not experts in all aspects of the services they deliver. Involving those staff who do have this specialist knowledge in the decision-making process is crucial to the delivery of a successful high quality modern service.

"There is enormous pressure on all staff working within the NHS to meet waiting time and access targets and very often an acknowledgement in recognition of the extra effort being put into achieving these objectives, rather than taking it for granted, is what is required. Many radiology managers do this but the survey indicates that more effort on our behalf is required."

Posted: 25/04/2008