Staff morale a growing concern at Hull Royal and Castle Hill hospitals
CONCERNS are growing over morale among staff at the region's main hospitals.
Union officials and health campaigners say morale at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust is at "rock bottom" and staff are worried about speaking out for fear of reprisals.
The trust, which runs Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, is under pressure to save £99 million by 2018, which includes closing wards and reducing the number of staff.
The Save Our NHS Hull and East Yorkshire group, which has launched a petition to save local NHS services, said hospital staff want to add their names to the list but are too scared.
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Group secretary Dermot Rathbone, 44, said: "A number of trust workers wanted to sign but were worried about consequences.
"They said if their name appears, they might be fired because everyone is looking over their shoulder. They should be allowed to have their say."
The group is planning a march through Hull city centre on Saturday, September 22, to demonstrate the level of their concerns.
Mr Rathbone, of Kirk Ella, said opposing "gagging" of staff will now become part of their campaign.
He said: "If you haven't got the skip in your step, that shows and it becomes a spiral of negativity."
A report for the trust board in July states that despite an improvement this year, the trust remains a "poor performer" in the National Staff Survey.
It is currently running the "big conversation" to enable staff to have their say, running short surveys to ask for their opinions and is looking at new ways of engaging with staff.
A member of staff, who did not wish to be named, said: "It's not about patients, delivery of care and how we treat people.
"Targets have become the essence of the organisation."
A survey of more than 1,700 staff in June revealed 80 per cent felt there was room for improvement in effective communication between management and staff.
Jayne Adamson, the trust's chief of workforce and organisational development, said: "We have done an enormous amount of work in recent months to engage with our staff, ask them what they believe gets in the way of success and what they think we can do to improve patient care and the working lives of the people we employ.
"Many of their suggestions are being implemented and we are now working with specific individuals and teams on issues that matter to them. This will be an ongoing piece of work.
"We have conducted surveys so we know how staff felt at the start of this work and we will repeat these regularly so we can see how we are improving.
"We recognise we have work to do to improve staff engagement and we are committed to listening to the views of our staff and acting on their suggestions for change."
Comments
by wilo74
Friday, September 14 2012, 6:42PM
“I totally understand the way the the staff feel. I am a public sector worker and have been part of this low morale culture for many years now. However it gets to a point when you have to re-evaluate it from your own personal perspective. Did I want to spend the next 25 years with low morale and then look back on a life of bitterness and stress? The simple answer was no. Therefore I thought about why I went into public sector work. I wanted my 10 hours a day to make a difference to others in my community. Am I doing this? This simple answer was yes. Therefore I am achieving my goal and all the ladder climbers and balance sheet obsessives can have their lives. Respect is ultimately more important than cash in my humble opinion and all those nurses and doctors are therefore incredibly rich.”
by beverleybard
Friday, September 14 2012, 4:48PM
“Morale is low because there is never any support or gratitude from the top (and I mean the very top). All the senior managers are interested in is looking after their own backs and jobs, consequently the efforts of those lower down the scale, those who actually do the work and sometimes do over and above what is required of them, are never acknowledged. Until those in charge are re-educated in proper people management and learn how to display appreciation this situation will endure!”
by cazmarelda
Friday, September 14 2012, 1:43PM
“I understand this I have low morale whenever I have to visit Hull Royal.”
by E_Badger
Friday, September 14 2012, 1:39PM
“Regular surveys are all very well, but when the only answer is to invest and the management turn around and repeat their mantra of "there's no money", they loose all respect and purpose.
At Castle Hill Hospital two clip noticeboards were affixed in public corridors to extol the vitues of the Trust's company line. These were put up at least three months ago and so far nothing has appeared in the frames ... because there is nothing to extol.”
by Adam089
Friday, September 14 2012, 10:49AM
“Morale is at rock bottom everywhere but we are VERY lucky to have an NHS and I think that we should remember this. The staff should also remember how lucky they are to have jobs! I feel unhappy about going to work sometimes but I do it because I'm lucky to have a job!”
by localad
Friday, September 14 2012, 10:41AM
“We seem to get these NHS morale rock bottom stories on a regular basis. Are they the only public sector service unhappy with their lot, are there any other public sector workers out there.
Maybe other public sector departments would love to have the budget and staff the NHS have.
I expect we will have a story about the unhappy ambulance service next week, we have not had one of those for a day or 2.”
by PatrickNewman
Friday, September 14 2012, 9:31AM
“Oh dear forward to the past again with the Tories reinventing the nasty party willingly supported by the Lib Dems. The so-called efficiency savings of £20bn (QIPP) is being achieved by cuts to services and jobs. It wont be long before the local NHS management discover the potential for setting pay according to their definition of local market rates which of course means for most a reduction. If the people of Hull want a good NHS they will support the staff in their protests.
As for the Lib Dems they were reluctantly prepared to sup with the devil but lately they have taken to wearing his clothes.”
by nicht_namen
Friday, September 14 2012, 8:20AM
“I know for a fact that morale is at rock bottom in all public sector services!!.....”