Little change in violence against radiographers
Over half of NHS staff regularly work unpaid overtime, and one in four staff have been harassed or abused by patients or their relatives in the last year. These findings come in the results of the annual staff survey published on 22 March by independent inspection body, The Healthcare Commission. Over 217,000 NHS staff from 572 organisations in England took part in the survey.
There has been an increase in the proportion of staff receiving training and appraisals since the last survey. In 2004, 94 per cent of staff received some training in the last year, compared to 89 per cent in 2003. Sixty-three per cent reported receiving an appraisal, up 3 per cent from the previous year.
However, there has been little change since 2003 in levels of violence and harassment reported by staff. Twenty-seven per cent of staff have been harassed, bullied or abused at work in the last 12 months and 14 per cent had been physically attacked. Although 8 out of 10 of all staff said they would know how to report such incidents, of the staff that said that they had experienced physical violence, only two-thirds had reported it; and of the staff that said that they had experienced harassment, bullying or abuse, only 52% had reported it. These figures are very similar to those found in 2003. All staff were asked about whether they felt their employers took effective action after such incidents. Between 45 and 54 per cent of staff felt effective action would be taken, although substantial proportions of staff did not know how their employer would react.
A new question this year on whistle-blowing found that 8 out of 10 staff said they would know how to report any concerns they had about negligence or wrong-doing by staff in their organisation. Fifty-nine per cent reported that there was a confidential whistle-blowing system in place. To read the survey results in detail, click here.
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