Damning staff survey results for scandal-hit Shropshire hospital trust
Shropshire's scandal-hit hospital trust has been dealt another blow with the findings of an annual staff survey.
The results of the yearly NHS staff survey showed almost a third of workers who responded to the questionnaire at Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) were not happy to say they were "secure about raising concerns about unsafe clinical practice".
The figure – of 32 per cent of respondents – is an improvement on last year, when it was 37 per cent, but comes after the Ockenden review into the Shropshire baby deaths scandal highlighted concerns about staff not feeling confident to speak up over worries about care at the trust.
SaTH, which manages Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, also scored the second lowest in the country for workers who would recommend the organisation as a place to work.
Only 41 per cent of staff who took part in the survey said they would be happy to recommend it as place to work – seven per cent lower than the 48 per cent last year.
Only the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust fared worse – with 38 per cent of staff there happy to recommend the trust.
Speaking after Mrs Ockenden raised concerns over staff speaking up, Louise Barnett, chief executive at SaTH, said workers should feel confident in raising concerns about care at the trust.
"From a staff raising concern perspective there will be absolutely no repercussions," she said.
"We want to be an organisation where staff feel they can speak out. That matters to me, and it is really important and part of the culture change."
Addressing the results of the staff survey, Rhia Boyode, director of people and organisational development at SaTH, said the trust was aware it needed to make progress.
She said: “The survey clearly shows that we have work still to do and we are determined to deliver the changes needed to make SaTH the great workplace our caring and dedicated colleagues deserve.
“In another year of real challenge right across the NHS, and at the Trust specifically, we have made progress, but we know that further significant improvements are required to get to where we want to be.”
