Health chiefs vow to tackle NHS abuse

ALMOST a fifth of NHS Oldham staff have experienced harassment, bullying or abuse at work over the past 12 months.

Hundreds of employees took part in a national survey to rate their work place.

And 18 per cent, compared with 16 per cent nationally, said they had suffered at the hands of patients or relatives.

Three per cent of the 425 questioned said they had suffered physical violence from colleagues.

On the plus side, staff rated NHS Oldham as one of the top NHS organisations in the country when it comes to providing a good work life balance, offering flexible working options and good opportunities to develop potential at work.

Staff felt they were well valued by their work colleagues (90 per cent compared with 88 per cent nationally), were satisfied with the quality of work and patient care they were able to deliver (64 per cent compared with 59 per cent nationally) and believed there were good opportunities to develop themselves further at work (56 per cent compared with 47 per cent nationally).

More than six out of 10 said they would recommend NHS Oldham as a place to work.

NHS Oldham chief executive Gail Richards said abuse in the workplace is a real concern but one which is being actively addressed.

She added: “We know that our staff also say we’re among the best in the country when it comes to taking tough action against anyone who attacks, bullies, harasses or abuses them and we’re proud of this achievement.

“But even one case is not acceptable and we will work even harder to tackle this.”

NHS Oldham chairman Riaz Ahmad said it was important that the organisation made sure it listened to — and acted upon — what staff had said.

He added: “The fact that so many of our staff took part shows how important they think it is to make their views known and we’re very pleased with the progress and satisfaction reported in so many areas.

“What it’s our job to do is to make sure we do all we can to continue to improve staff’s working lives so that they, in turn, can focus on continuing to improve the health of the people of Oldham.”

The results of the survey are being fed back to staff across the organisation and, as has been done each year, groups of staff will get together to look at how action plans can be put in place where things need to improve.