Staff at Yeovil Hospital have rated it the best hospital in England for employee health and wellbeing for the third year running, in the annual NHS staff survey.
Results from the survey, which is carried out independently and open to every member of staff employed by the NHS, were released nationally today. The survey provides trusts with vital information about the experiences of their staff, who respond anonymously to more than 70 questions.
More than 600,000 NHS staff completed the survey last year.
As well as maintaining its health and wellbeing top-spot, the Trust was ranked top in the country for providing flexible working opportunities and in the top-three for staff engagement. It also ranked highly – significantly better than the national average – in important areas such as equality and diversity, equal opportunities and the support provided by managers.
The Trust also had the highest response rate in the country – again for the third year running – making the results even more significant. With the survey having been completed by staff during between October and November 2020, the results provide a particularly crucial ‘temperature check’ of staff who have been at the forefront of the nation’s response to COVID-19.
Overall, the Trust was in the top 20% of all trusts in the country for 61 of the 78 questions asked.
Jonathan Higman, Chief Executive of Yeovil Hospital, said,
“During the past year, more has been demanded of our staff than ever before. There is not a single person, regardless of their role, who has not had to adapt and rise to new challenges as part of the hospital’s response to the pandemic.
“Maintaining the health and wellbeing of staff, and ensuring people feel informed, has never been so important, so I am particularly pleased to see these latest survey results. Providing good care for our patients starts with looking after the welfare of staff, so to know that those working within the YDH family have, for the most part, felt supported, engaged, and respected is crucially importance.
“What these results also show is the exceptional resilience of our staff, who have supported one another tirelessly throughout the pandemic so far.”
One area of continued focus for the Trust, and one of just two areas in which it is below the national average, is in relation to staff experiencing abuse or violence from patients – though fewer staff said they had experienced such incidents than in the previous year.
“Due to the nature of the care we provide and with many patients living with conditions such as dementia, it is unfortunately inevitable that some staff will experience abuse from those they care for at some point,“ said Jonathan Higman.
“However, regardless of its nature, any experience of abuse can be distressing and we continue to provide training and promote the importance of reporting any such incidents, whatever their nature, so we can respond appropriately to safeguard both staff and patients. I am encouraged that levels of reporting such instances are higher in our Trust than the national average.”
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Notes to editors
The full results of the NHS staff survey can be found at https://www.nhsstaffsurveyresults.com/
Categorised in: Trust news and events
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