NHS Staff Satisfaction Remains High

There has been continuing progress recorded in a number of areas of the 2010 annual NHS staff survey, Health Minister Simon Burns announced today.

The survey results published today by the Care Quality Commission will help NHS trusts to improve staff experience and local engagement. This will in turn help improve the care delivered to patients.

Key findings from the staff survey, carried out between September and December 2010 include:

• Record high levels of staff job satisfaction in the NHS, with an overall score of 3.51 out of 5
• Satisfaction ratings by staff around the quality of work and patient care they are able to deliver remain high (74 per cent), as does the difference that their role can make for patients (90 per cent)
• Continuing high ratings on the promotion of infection control with 88 per cent agreeing that their trust does enough

Health Minister Simon Burns said: "The survey shows that NHS organisations are continuing to make improvements for their staff in many areas. This is vital to the delivery of our overriding goal for a modern NHS - to give more control to front line staff to produce high quality care and improved health outcomes for patients that are among the best in the world.

“The results demonstrate that staff remain focussed in their delivery of high quality care. That is a sign of the commitment, professionalism and hard work of those who work in the NHS – we expect it to continue as we move to a system that is more responsive to the views of staff and patients.

“More staff are happy with the standard of care at their hospital if a friend or family member needed treatment. Our plans will allow front line staff to improve on this further and that will give real assurance to patients that our changes for a modern NHS are for the better.

“Supporting and engaging with staff is absolutely critical if we are to deliver better outcomes, patient satisfaction and more effective use of resources.”

(BMcN)