Today (8 June 2023), the National Guardian’s Office published its analysis of the questions relating to speaking up in the 2022 NHS Staff Survey. The results showed a 1.5% decrease in responses to these questions, equating to a fall in over 9,000 workers’ confidence to speak up. All measures relating to speaking up, both relating to raising concerns about clinical safety and speaking up more generally, showed a decrease.
The results have improved since the 2015 Freedom to Speak Up Review, however, this continues the fall in NHS workers’ confidence to speak up since the pandemic. Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark, National Guardian for the NHS, commented: “It is not acceptable that two in five workers responding to the NHS staff survey do not feel able to speak up about anything which gets in the way of them doing their job”.
She continued: “These survey responses show us that there is a growing feeling that speaking up in the NHS is futile – that nothing changes as a result. When workers speak up about concerns, including the impact of under staffing and a crumbling infrastructure, their leaders themselves may struggle to be heard when trying to address these concerns”.
Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark went on to warn: “Failing to do so risks compounding this sense that workers do not have the resources they need to deliver the high-quality care they want for their patients. With three in ten feeling unsafe to raise clinical concerns, this will have a direct impact on patient safety”.
The National Guardian’s Office is urging for the situation to be addressed as soon as possible. For more information or interviews contact: comms@nationalguardianoffice.org.uk.
Today (8 June 2023), the National Guardian’s Office published the results of the 2022 NHS Staff Survey, which showed a decline in confidence to speak up among NHS workers. The 1.5% decrease equated to a fall in over 9,000 workers’ confidence to speak up.
Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark, National Guardian for the NHS, commented: “It is not acceptable that two in five workers responding to the NHS staff survey do not feel able to speak up about anything which gets in the way of them doing their job”. She added: “These survey responses show us that there is a growing feeling that speaking up in the NHS is futile – that nothing changes as a result”.
Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark warned: “Failing to do so risks compounding this sense that workers do not have the resources they need to deliver the high-quality care they want for their patients. With three in ten feeling unsafe to raise clinical concerns, this will have a direct impact on patient safety”.
The National Guardian’s Office is urging for the situation to be addressed as soon as possible. For more information or interviews contact: comms@nationalguardianoffice.org.uk.
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