Each year, DHC (and other NHS healthcare providers across the country) invite all employees to take part in the NHS Staff Survey to see what we are doing well and identify areas for improvement. It also feeds into the experiences of NHS staff on a national level.
It’s one of the largest workforce surveys in the world and is aligned to the NHS People Promise which sets out in the words of NHS staff, the things that would most improve their working experience.
The survey offers staff the opportunity to comment on many aspects, such as:
Working at DHC: Willingness to recommend as a place to work or receive treatment.
Job: Responsibilities, satisfaction, motivation and flexible working.
Team: Dynamics, conflict resolution, involvement in changes.
Managers: Supporting staff, interested in their well-being.
We compare the survey results to the previous year’s findings to see how we’re doing year-on-year, to identify areas of success and where we need to concentrate our efforts.
We’re delighted to share the key findings and insights from DHC’s 2023 staff survey:
Working at DHC
- We are proud that 80% of staff would recommend DHC as a great place to work, which indicates strong employee satisfaction and a positive work environment. This is compared with the NHS average of 61% and last year’s 70%.
- We are reassured that 90% of staff feel confident to recommend DHC to family and friends needing treatment. This high level of confidence is a positive reflection on the quality of care, seen firsthand by staff, and is much higher than the NHS average of 64% and an increase on an already good score of 87% last year.
Job
- We have improved in many areas related to people’s roles. One substantial increase is that 77% are happy with flexible working opportunities, compared with 62% last year, and well above the NHS average of 57%. This has been an area of focus so it’s great to see it’s what our staff want.
- Another area of growth is 76% feel there are opportunities to show initiative, up from 66% last year and above the NHS average (74%).
- It’s reassuring that 90% feel trusted to do their job, up from last year’s still positive 88% and consistent with the NHS average.
Team
- A notable 87% enjoy working with their colleagues, indicating a strong sense of camaraderie amongst staff, this is above the 81% national average.
- Regular team meetings are reported by 76% of staff, indicating a good level of communication within teams, a vast improvement since last year (58%) and comparing well to the NHS average (62%).
- 67% have enough freedom in how work is done, outperforming the NHS average and last year’s score (both 60%).
Managers
- Managers at DHC are perceived very positively, with 86% of staff saying they have an encouraging manager, which is significantly higher than the NHS average (72%) and a marginal increase from last year (84%).
- 85% feel they have a manager who cares about their health and well-being, outperforming the NHS average by 71% and being consistent with last year’s results.
As an organisation we are extremely proud of the dedication of our staff. We would like to thank all those who took part; it’s encouraging to see engagement this year remained at 54%, with 157 colleagues completing the survey, compared with the national average of 48%.
We always welcome the opportunity to see what we are doing well and to celebrate our successes. In equal measure, we are keen to understand areas for improvement so that we have an opportunity to address them. For example we’ve learnt that we need to give more focus to work-related stress and musculoskeletal problems amongst staff. We want all our employees to continue to feel valued, to enjoy working at DHC and to feel inspired to recommend us as a place to work and receive treatment.
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Read DHC’s 2022 staff survey results
