A three-year study into the experiences of more than 30,000 NHS staff in
London shows a trend towards better working lives.
This is despite increasing work pressures and challenges and the high cost
of living in the capital city.
The survey found higher levels of job satisfaction, more opportunities for
training and development, improved health and safety conditions, good working
relationships, fewer incidents of harassment from patients and relatives, more
confidence that workers’ comments and complaints would be acted upon, and
rising levels of approval for line managers.
David High, director of HR and corporate development, Lewisham Hospitals NHS
Trust, welcomed the report.
"It is both remarkable and encouraging that over three years the
attitudes of NHS staff have got more positive, against a backdrop of increasing
pressure to deliver the NHS Plan," he said.
The survey, entitled Healthy Attitudes: Quality of Working Life in the
London NHS, was carried out by the Institute for Employment Studies on behalf
of a consortium of London NHS Trusts and Health Authorities between 2000 and
2002.
However, the survey also points to areas that need to be addressed for
working lives in the NHS to be further improved. These include continued
dissatisfaction with levels of pay and benefits, generally lower levels of
satisfaction among support staff, variable exposure to training and development
opportunities, increased levels of stress among managers, and some staff with a
disability/medical condition, who feel they are not getting the required
support.
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