Airedale Hospital bosses pleased by staff survey (From Craven Herald)

Airedale Hospital bosses pleased by staff survey

8:00am Friday 8th March 2013 in News

Airedale Hospital has been given a healthy diagnosis in a national staff survey.

Nearly three quarters of respondents said they could contribute towards improvements at work, placing Airedale in the country’s top 20 per cent of trusts.

And Airedale NHS Foundation Trust scored above average – 3.73 out of a possible five – for overall staff engagement, which includes the extent of employees’ motivation and their willingness to recommend the hospital as a place to work or get treatment.

Other pluses include the availability of handwashing materials, a low percentage of staff experiencing discrimination and a high number who had completed equality and diversity training.

Areas where the staff experience had deteriorated include numbers being appraised and receiving health and safety training and employees who feel pressurised to work when unwell.

Nicholas Parker, head of human resources at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said overall the results were pleasing.

“Especially pleasing are the improvements in staff engagement and the indication that our staff would recommend Airedale as a place to be treated,” he said. “This is particularly encouraging in light of our commitment to improving patient experience.”

But he added: “We are never complacent and we will be talking to our staff and unions about the survey results and areas which need to be improved, such as work pressure, so that we can draw up very specific plans to address them.”