Third of nurses ‘feel bullied’ over patient care practices, survey finds
The improved collection and analysis of people management data and employee feedback could help avert future care scandals in the NHS, the CIPD has said.
Four in ten healthcare workers were concerned that care failings – such as those highlighted at Mid Staffordshire – could occur in their organisation, found the latest study by the institute.
One-third of nurses also said they had been bullied to behave in ways that run counter to patient care over the last two years, according to the research, ‘Focus on culture change and patient care in the NHS’.
The survey of 1,021 healthcare workers – predominantly nurses – was conducted in collaboration with the Healthcare People Management Association (HPMA).
It revealed that six in ten respondents were confident enough to raise concerns about the quality of patient care to senior management, but of these just 57 per cent thought that their feedback would be properly addressed and investigated.
Of the four in ten employees whose organisation had initiated a culture change initiative to improve patient care in the last year, just 15 per cent said it had been very effective, while a fifth believing it had failed to make any impact at all.
The most commonly cited way (55 per cent) to improve patient care in the NHS was to improve engagement and consultation with staff. Only one-third respondents said that they were currently engaged at work and just one-quarter had confidence in their senior managers.
Furthermore, half of the nurses surveyed said that they were under excessive pressure every day – something which was only reported in previous CIPD research by between 11 per cent and 14 per cent of employees outside the NHS.
Peter Cheese, the CIPD’s chief executive, said that the research highlighted why NHS leaders should put more emphasis on their people management and employee data.
“NHS leaders should ensure they are putting more emphasis on monitoring, analysing and, crucially, acting on people management information and feedback from staff, which can provide early warning indicators for potential culture, capability and capacity problems linked to poor standards of care,” he explained.
“Information from patients about their experience is of course crucial, but good quality management information can flag problems further upstream before patient care has been fatally undermined.”
He added that better collection, reporting and analysis of data around training and development, appraisals, employee engagement, stress and absence could provide key intelligence on how NHS trusts were functioning.
Kevin Croft, president of the Healthcare People Management Association, described the latest survey results as “disappointing”.
“The findings reinforce the need for a much greater focus on the staff experience, good people management and staff engagement, at both a system and local level, to improve the patient experience,” he said.
“We know there is a clear correlation between a positive staff experience and better health outcomes for patients. Good quality people management information which shines a light on these issues can play a crucial role in helping care providers understand what underpins good patient care and provide earlier insight if things are going wrong.”