Shropshire NHS trusts' staff surveys make for 'pleasing reading'

A total of 94.8 per cent of staff at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital who completed the 2019 NHS staff survey said they would be happy with the standard of care provided by their organisation if a friend or relative needed treatment there.

That score has improved year-on-year since 2016, and is once again the highest of all the 300-plus NHS organisations taking part in the survey for the third consecutive year.

A total of 77 per cent of staff also recommended it as a place to work – a score that ranks it among the top 10 trusts in the country.

Almost 62 per cent of staff at the hospital near Oswestry completed the survey.

Chief executive Mark Brandreth said: “These survey results make for very pleasing reading for everyone connected with RJAH.

"I always say I am lucky to work with the best staff in the NHS, and that really comes across when you look at these findings.

“I was delighted to see so many of our people completing the survey this year. The more feedback you can get, the more confidence you can have in what you hear back.

“Last year we were proud to say that we received one of the very best staff survey reports in the whole country. It was always going to be challenging to maintain and build on such high standards, but I think we have been able to do just that.”

RJAH was found to have made ‘statistically significant’ improvements in two areas – bullying & harassment and violence.

Mr Brandreth said the survey, which is carried out annually, was one of the key tools used in helping identify areas for improvement.

Results from Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust (Shropcom) showed 70 per cent of staff would recommend it as a place to work, well above the average for community trusts of 66 per cent.

Almost 91 per cent of staff said their role makes a difference to service users, while more than 82 per cent said care of patients and service users was their organisation’s top priority – both above the average score for community trusts and the NHS as a whole.

The themed results showed the trust scoring 9.6 out of 10 for equality, diversity and inclusion – the top-scoring community trust in the country.

It made ‘statistically significant’ improvement in seven out of 10 areas, when compared with 2018, but the survey also showed there was room for improvement.

The effectiveness of staff appraisals and the visibility of managers and leaders were about average for a community trust.

Shropcom received feedback from 58 per cent of staff.

Chief executive Jan Ditheridge, who will soon be leaving the trust, said it was pleasing to read about all the positives but there is more to do.

She said: “Although I won’t be here next year, I will certainly watch from afar curious to know that the fantastic team have continued to make Shropcom an even better place to work.”

The survey involves staff being asked to answer more than 100 questions about their job, organisation, managers, personal development and health and wellbeing at work.