The survey, which was conducted in late 2023, was completed by over 4,700 colleagues, which equates to 67% of the Trust’s workforce and is one of the highest response rates in the country. Comparatively, the national average for acute hospital trusts was 45%.
The survey is designed to assess the experiences of NHS employees to give an indication of how they feel about working at their organisations and how they would feel if someone they knew were to work there or need treatment there.
The Trust, which runs Doncaster Royal Infirmary, Bassetlaw Hospital and Mexborough Montagu Hospital, scored higher on 71% of questions when compared with the national average.
Colleagues also indicated improvements on 94% of questions compared to last year’s results. Most notably, the Trust scored significantly better on questions that asked colleagues about their work-life balance, flexible working opportunities and how DBTH supports them to look after their health and wellbeing.
Zoe Lintin, Chief People Officer at DBTH, said: “I am really pleased that our colleagues believe that the Trust genuinely cares about their health and wellbeing, and that they feel that they have a good work-life balance. We want our colleagues to stay and thrive at DBTH and our survey results this year reflect that we are in a great position to retain our talented workforce, with more of our employees stating that they don’t intend to leave the organisation in the coming year.”
Each year, the survey results are broken down into seven categories which reflect the key themes within the national NHS People Promise. The results for this year reveal that DBTH has made significant improvements in all of the related themes, including ‘we are compassionate and inclusive’, ‘we are a team’ and ‘we each have a voice that counts’.
Most notably, for the ‘we are always learning theme’, DBTH achieved one of the highest scores in the country.
The NHS Staff survey is an important tool for assessing the quality of care and the work environment within NHS trusts. It provides valuable feedback to help NHS organisations identify areas in which improvements could be made.
Zoe continued: “Whilst these are undoubtedly amongst the best results we’ve ever seen here at DBTH, we do recognise that improvement is a constant journey and we are keen to strive for further improvements and build on our progress so far. It is our intention to ensure we have a year-round cycle of engagement with colleagues, using what they tell us to make improvements across the organisation by working together.”
“I would like to thank each and every member of Team DBTH who took the time to respond to the survey and to provide the invaluable feedback which will continue to drive positive change in the near future.”
Following receipt of the full and anonymised survey results, teams throughout the organisation will look to discuss their results, address any concerns raised, as well as build on positives.
