Sherwood Forest Hospitals is rated the best Trust in the Midlands in national NHS staff survey

Posted Tuesday, February 18, 2020 3:41 PM

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been rated by colleagues as the best NHS Trust in the Midlands according to findings of the latest National NHS Staff Survey released today (Tuesday 18 February).

The staff engagement rate, one of the key measures in the survey, ranks the Trust as the best acute Trust in the Midlands (joint with Chesterfield Royal Hospital). The results are based on a 66% response rate from all staff, which is the second highest in the Midlands.

The Trust, which runs King’s Mill Hospital, Newark Hospital and Mansfield Community Hospital takes part in the annual National NHS Survey each year and all staff were invited to share their views, with an impressive 3,161 staff choosing to take part.

Sherwood Forest Hospitals’ Chief Executive, Richard Mitchell, said: “I am pleased and proud that, once again, colleagues feel Sherwood is a great place to work and receive treatment and these findings have confirmed we have some of the most engaged staff across the NHS. We know an engaged workforce is directly linked to improved patient care so this is a really important aspect of the survey.

“We are pleased with our staff engagement score and many other areas have improved, which we are incredibly proud of and is testament to the hard work of colleagues.

“Although these findings are promising, I’m also aware the findings will not resonate with everyone at SFH. I know we still have colleagues who do not enjoy their experience at Sherwood and the findings from this year’s survey will provide us with useful information so we can see exactly where we need to focus next. This is something that will involve honest conversations, feedback and working together.”

Other areas that saw a significant improvement in comparison to the 2018 survey include colleagues feeling that adjustments have been made to enable colleagues with a disability to work, less staff have felt pressure to come to work when they are ill than in previous years and the organisation treats staff involved in incidents fairly.

Emma Challans, Director of Culture and Improvement said:

“We pride ourselves on a positive culture of staff engagement, and in living the values and behaviours that we hold dear.  We also know that in making Sherwood Forest Hospitals the best possible place to work it means patients will get better care, and the latest staff survey results are a good indicator that we are getting this right more often than not. However there are areas we know we will need to focus on in the coming weeks and months to improve the experience of working at Sherwood.”

More than half a million NHS staff in England completed the national NHS Staff Survey. The results are primarily intended for use by NHS organisations to help them review and improve staff experience. The Care Quality Commission use the results from the survey to monitor ongoing compliance with essential standards of quality and safety.

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