Almost half of NHS staff say wards are understaffed

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Almost half of NHS staff say there are not enough staff at their trust to do their job
Midwives, consultants and nurses complain of staff shortages in latest survery
Best performing acute trust on this measure was Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh FT

Almost half of NHS staff say there are not enough of them to do their jobs properly, according to the latest NHS staff survey.

The 2016 results, published on Tuesday, showed many NHS workers believe the service is understaffed and this affects their ability to provide care.

Out of 409,000 responses, 47 per cent of staff said they disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement: “There are enough staff at this organisation for me to do my job properly.”

Only 30 per cent agreed or strongly agreed with the same statement.

For acute trusts (192,000 responses), 46 per cent of staff disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement. The result was similar for mental health trusts (47 per cent) and community trusts (50 per cent).

The acute trusts with the largest percentage of staff disagreeing that they had enough workers was Weston Area Health Trust and Birmingham Women’s Foundation Trust.

Ten worst performing acute and acute specialist trusts against the statement: “There are enough staff at this organisation for me to do my job properly”

Weston Are Health Trust – 60 per cent staff disagree or strongly disagree
Birmingham Women’s FT – 60 per cent
The Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust – 59 per cent
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust – 58 per cent
Chesterfield Royal Hospital FT – 58 per cent
North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust – 56 per cent
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals FT – 55 per cent
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust – 55 per cent
Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust – 54 per cent
Walsall Healthcare Trust – 54 per cent

Twenty-nine acute and acute specialist trusts had more than 50 per cent of staff disagreeing they had enough staff. This included Salford Royal FT, where 51 per cent disagreed with the statement, and only 29 per cent agreed or strongly agreed there were enough staff. The trust has previously been praised by the government for its staff engagement and safety initiatives.

Twelve mental health trusts had more than 50 per cent of staff warning of shortages – Humber FT was the worst performing with 59 per cent disagreeing with the statement. Among community trusts, Leeds Community Healthcare was the worst performing with 63 per cent saying there were not enough staff.

Among individual staff groups, midwives were the most concerned about staff shortages with 65 per cent saying there were not enough staff, as did 52 per cent of consultants and 42 per cent of junior doctors. Forty-six per cent of registered adult general nurses said there were not enough staff to do their job properly. This was the same figure for allied health professionals.

At acute trusts, more than half of registered nurses, consultants and midwives said there were not enough staff.

Ten best performing acute and acute specialist trusts against the statement: “There are enough staff at this organisation for me to do my job properly”

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh FT – 30 per cent of staff disagree or strongly disagree
St Helens and Knowsley FT – 32 per cent
Guy’s and St Thomas’ FT – 33 per cent
Homerton University Hospital FT – 37 per cent
University Hospitals Birmingham FT – 37 per cent
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare Trust – 38 per cent
Derby Teaching Hospitals FT – 38 per cent
Frimley Health FT – 39 per cent
University Hospital Southampton FT – 39 per cent
South Warwickshire FT – 39 per cent