Public Servant Lifestyle

The HSE is working alongside the NHS and the CFSMS to reduce workplace risks - including violence and intimidation - to staff.

Responding to the findings of a recent cross NHS staff survey, published by the Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) - the independent inspection body for the NHS - Chris Taylor, Head of the Health Services Unit at the Health and Safety Executive, (HSE) said: "The findings about the risks faced by NHS staff are useful and confirm what we already know. Stress, manual handling, and violence, for example, are a significant problem for staff and the illness and disruption they cause place a major burden on the delivery of health services.

“The Health and Safety Executive are working with health services to improve working conditions for NHS staff and at the same time improve the service to patients. Health Services are a priority for HSE and our inspections of NHS trusts are already focusing on the major risks highlighted by the CHI survey. We are also working with the Department of Health (DOH), the main NHS agencies and staff organisations to provide the tools for improving health and safety."

Initiatives include:

A national package of training on managing violence and aggression, run by the Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (CFSMS);

Practical guidance on managing work-related stress in healthcare;

Work with the National Patient Safety Agency and NHS Estates on the design of safer hospitals; and

Education on health and safety for undergraduate medical students (with the Council for the Heads of Medical Schools).

Jim Gee, Chief Executive of NHS Security Management Service (SMS), said: "This survey is useful. Violence against staff is a serious problem faced by many organisations, including the NHS, which is why we are take it so seriously. These figures show what the position was five months ago in October 2003, and there has been considerable action since then to improve the situation."

Since December 2003 the SMS has taken the following action:

Published a new Security Management Strategy which sets out that violence against NHS Staff is NHS SMS's top priority

Introduced a new legal framework which gives the SMS powers to ensure all NHS organisations introduce measures to tackle violence which are of the same high standards

Given existing managers in NHS organisations the role of Security Management Director with specific powers and responsibilities in respect of violence

Established a new mandatory reporting system for violence against staff, which, for the first time will provide accurate information about the nature and extent of the problem

Established a highly experienced in-house capacity to investigate all examples of physical assault against NHS staff

Established a Staff Legal Protection Unit to undertake criminal prosecutions and civil legal action where necessary against those undertaking physical assaults

SMS has been working with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) on a new 'Memorandum of Understanding', clarifying what the Police and SMS will do to tackle violence against NHS staff

Developed the NHS's first ever Security Management Manual - due for publication this Summer - which will spell out exactly what needs to be done in every NHS organisation to tackle violence against staff

The following action is also planned for 2004:

From April, NHS SMS will start to undertake the largest ever training programme in the NHS, delivering Conflict Resolution Training to all 700,000 plus front-line NHS staff and professionals - giving them the skills to defuse potentially violent situations, so that the number of assaults is reduced."

From April, Local Security Management Specialists from every NHS organisation will commence professional, accredited training to allow them to lead work to tackle violence against staff effectively

Jim Gee concluded: "We take the problem of violence and aggression seriously and are determined to deliver an environment for those who use or work in the NHS which is properly secure so that the highest possible standard of clinical care can be made available. The aim of the SMS is a simple one - to protect the NHS so that it can better protect the public's health."

Workforce Survey

The survey - thought to be the world’s largest ever workforce survey - saw over 200,000 NHS employees answering questions about what it is like to work for the NHS. The results overall were encouraging, with a very high response rate and the impression from UK NHS staff that they feel happy and fulfilled in their jobs.

However, almost 1 in 6 staff who responded to the questionaire indicated that they had experienced physical violence in their workplace, hence the need for additional efforts to rectify this situation. In addition, more than one in three doctors who took part in the UK-wide survey in 2003 said they had experienced some form of violence over the previous year according to the report Violence At Work: The Experience of UK Doctors, from the British Medical Association.

Richard Griffin, Director of Employment Relations and Union Services at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP), was among those who commented on the findings. He said: "While the CHI report provides some good news about working in the NHS, it also highlights areas of serious concern. Particularly worrying is the fact that so many NHS staff have suffered physical violence, harassment and bullying. The CSP is also concerned about the high number of staff who have experienced injuries as a result of moving or handling patients. The NHS must do more to protect staff's health and well being. More also needs to be done to improve work/life balance. Too many staff are working too many hours. This is a real problem in physiotherapy where there are still chronic staff shortages.

"The message from the CHI survey is that NHS staff are dedicated and take pride in their work. Things are improving but more needs to be done. The CSP is calling on the Department of Health to monitor the problem more closely, devise a campaign to help inform and educate the general public and to ensure that there are opportunities to contribute to an ongoing national dialogue about the issues raised."

Aside from operating a zero tolerance policy towards violence at work – with high profile NHS campaigns running to highlight the unacceptable nature of violence towards Ambulance crews and nursing staff, this new statement signifies a combined commitment from the HSE, the DOH and the NHS to stamp out workplace violence.

The complete survey information – which was collated by Aston Business School - will be used to inform trusts about their staffs’ views on working conditions, will also be used by CHI and the new Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (CHAI) in future inspections and in the formulation of Trusts’ future star ratings.

View the main findings of the NHS staff survey here.

More information available in Work Environment, Advice