Professor Naomi Chambers spoke to BBC Radio Shropshire this week on Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust’s deteriorating NHS Staff Survey scores. As well as being the worst in the country for their patient safety culture, Prof Chambers says that the results from the 2018 NHS staff survey show the Trust has an issue with bullying and harassment as well as other safety concerns.
"The NHS Staff Survey is one of the world’s largest workforce surveys and has been going since 2003, so we can compare not only across hospitals but other years as well," added Professor Chambers.
"The 2018 results have prompted immediate responses from management at the two hospitals however the results do indicate worrying signs about the culture of the Trust."
To improve staff engagement, Naomi suggests that the Trust finds out who are the best performers and visits them to see what they're doing and how they're succeeding.
She also added that the culture of NHS regulators may have some bearing on the results. "This trust is under particular scrutiny. There have been a number of reports that behaviours from regulators are sometimes experienced as bullying, and it is feared that this way of acting can be mirrored to their staff by managers who are under pressure."