Low staff engagement at Pennine Acute Trust

Rochdale Infirmary

Overall staff engagement within the Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust, which runs the Rochdale Infirmary, is in the lowest 20 per cent, when compared with trusts of a similar type, the results of the National NHS Staff Survey 2011 reveal.

Pennine Acute’s score for staff engagement in 2011 was 3.47, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. In 2010 the Trust’s score was 3.61. The national average is currently 3.62.

Staff engagement relates to: staff members’ perceived ability to contribute to improvements at work, their willingness to recommend the trust as a place to work or receive treatment and the extent to which they feel motivated and engaged by work.

The National NHS Staff Survey is carried out every year. Results are compared with the previous year, and national averages for similar organisations. They are considered the best information available about NHS staff.

The Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust's bottom ranking scores in the survey were:

Staff motivation at work (the higher the score the better)
Pennine Acute: 3.70
National average for acute trusts: 3.82

Percentage of staff experiencing physical violence from patients, relatives or the public in the last 12 months
(the lower the score the better)
Pennine Acute: 11 per cent
National average for acute trusts: 8 per cent

Percentage of staff able to contribute towards improvements at work
(the higher the score the better)
Pennine Acute: 55 per cent
National average for acute trusts: 61 per cent

Staff recommendation of the trust as a place to work or receive treatment
(the higher the score the better)
Pennine Acute: 3.23
National average for acute trusts: 3.50

The trust’s top four ranking scores in the survey were:

Percentage of staff appraised with personal development plans in last 12 months:
(the higher the score the better)
Pennine Acute: 81 per cent
National average for acute trusts: 68 per cent

Percentage of staff appraised in the last 12 months (the higher the score the better)
Pennine Acute: 88 per cent
National average for acute trusts: 81 per cent

Percentage of staff working extra hours (the lower the score the better)
Pennine Acute: 63 per cent
National average for acute trusts: 65 per cent

Percentage of staff receiving health and safety training in last 12 months (the higher the score the better)
Pennine Acute: 84 per cent
National average for acute trusts: 81 per cent

The survey also highlighted areas where staff experiences have improved. They are:

Percentage of staff appraised in the last 12 months
Trust score 2011: 88 per cent
Trust score 2010: 83 per cent

Percentage of staff having equality and diversity training in the last 12 months Trust score 2011: 51 per cent
Trust score 2010: 43 per cent

And, where staff experience has deteriorated:

Percentage of staff able to contribute towards improvements at work Trust score 2011: 55 per cent
Trust score 2010: 65 per cent

Percentage of staff feeling valued by their work colleagues
Trust score 2011: 73 per cent
Trust score 2010: 80 per cent

Staff intention to leave jobs
Trust score 2011: 2.70
Trust score 2010: 2.50

Trust commitment to work life balance Trust score 2011: 3.27
Trust score 2010: 3.42

Roger Pickering, director of human resources at The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “I am disappointed that we have slipped back after making real improvements over the past two years. Although I don’t believe there is one single reason for this, we shouldn’t underestimate the impact of the recent clinical service changes that we have carried out across our hospitals as part of the Healthy Futures and Making it Better programmes.

"Over the past two years we have implemented one of the largest service change programmes in the NHS. This has involved successfully centralising clinical services, moving and integrating staff in and between our hospitals. We are near completion and when finished, these changes will have involved investing over £100m in new facilities and improved the way our staff provide frontline hospital services.

“Whilst this is a huge achievement in itself, the impact on staff has undoubtedly been significant and we know this has had a disruptive effect with changes in working patterns and relocations across sites. As new teams integrate and develop and staff who have moved settle into a period of stability, we look forward to that being reflected in next year’s survey.

“We will work closely with our staff, Trades Unions and staff side representatives to restore the real improvements we had made; I am confident that the will to do this is there and collectively we can do this.”