A third of staff at Norfolk and Suffolk mental health trust have been abused in the last year
The results of a new annual survey have been released.
Almost a third of the staff at a Norfolk mental health trust have been abused in the last year, while around half do not look forward to going to work, the latest NHS staff survey shows.
Figures from the 2020 poll show scores improved in four out of 10 key areas, with a care chief saying “more needs to be done”.
More than 2,000 workers at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) took part in the annual questionnaire, answering questions about their work environment.
Almost 15% said they had experienced harassment, bullying or abuse at work from managers in the past year, up from 12.9% five years ago, while 32.2% said they had received abuse from patients or other members of the public.
Just over 70% of responders said they are enthusiastic about their jobs, but only 55% look forward to going to work.
A third said they often think about leaving the organisation, while almost a quarter said they will probably look for a new job in the next 12 months.
Figures showed improvements in other areas, with 78.8% saying NSFT acts fairly with regards to career progression, regardless of ethnic background, gender or religion, however, this is below the average of 86.6%.
Managers showed an improvement in taking a positive interest in staff health and wellbeing, with 76.6% agreeing or strongly agreeing – 7% more than last year.
Manager encouragement also rose, from 70.3% in 2019 to 77.4% in 2020.
Jonathan Warren, chief executive at NSFT said the survey showed improvements but accepted there was more work to be done.
He said: “Making sure our Trust is somewhere people want to work is one of our top priorities. We know that supportive, compassionate leadership is the key to supporting our staff to thrive.
“A new ‘Leading Confidently’ programme which is directly linked to our values of positively, respectively and together, will see more than 600 staff trained over the next 12 months.
“We are continuing to invest in staff wellbeing with a new emotional wellbeing hub being set up to compliment the psychological support programme we have put in place for our Black and Asian staff.
“We will also be focusing on creating a culture of mutual respect through our ‘Expect Respect’ campaign.”