NHS staff satisfaction

Despite a number of positive factors about working in the NHS, a staff poll has also revealed poor communication and a number of patient attacks on employees.

The Healthcare Commission poll also showed that less than half of NHS staff think patients are their trusts' main priority.

The survey questioned over 155,000 NHS employees from all 391 NHS trusts.

Just over a quarter (26 per cent) of staff were satisfied or very satisfied with the extent to which their trust values their work, down from 28 per cent in 2005.

The number of assaults on staff did not fall in 2007; 13 per cent of staff said they had experienced physical violence from patients or their relatives in the 12 months prior to the survey in 2007, the same as in 2006 and up one percentage point from 2005.

Violence occurred most in ambulance and mental health trusts, where 29 per cent and 22 per cent of staff respectively said they had experienced physical violence from patients or their relatives in the previous 12 months.

Twenty-six per cent of staff said they had been harassed, bullied or abused by patients or their relatives in the year prior to the survey.

This showed little improvement over previous years (28 per cent in 2006 and 26 per cent in 2005).

Positive results from the survey include improvements in relation to infection control and staff working less overtime.

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