Last updated 15:57, Wednesday, 26 March 2008

MORALE among north Cumbria’s hospital staff is improving, according to a new survey of employees.

The questionnaires were circulated among all NHS staff in October as part of a national opinion survey.

Responses are collated into areas and given to managers of individual hospitals.

The North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary and the West Cumberland Hospital, received its feedback at its monthly board meeting on Tuesday.

It showed that, since last year’s survey, overall satisfaction levels among hospital staff have improved.

Performance in 12 areas of the survey was better than in 2006, while a further 10 areas were unchanged or showed a slight improvement.

The 2007 results showed that less staff are working extra unpaid hours and significantly fewer employees are seeking to leave the trust.

On the whole, hospital workers are also happier with the trust management.

This includes the authority’s commitment to helping staff balance their work and home life and support in times of personal crisis.

More employees felt that they are now being asked for their opinions on work matters, getting feedback about their performance and that their teams now have clear objectives. They also said they felt more valued by the trust and that hospital bosses are acting fairly by providing equal opportunities.

Satisfaction levels regarding training in areas such as health and safety, infection control, computer skills and confidentiality/record keeping have also improved.

Finally, more staff said they knew how to report concerns they may have and report near misses and accidents.

However the feedback did show that staff want more training and awareness in certain areas, such as dealing with violence, patients with drink and drug problems, disability and religion.

Bosses yesterday said they were pleased with the results of the survey, particularly the fact that no in no areas was the feedback worse than 2006.

However, although lower than last year, that the main reason given by those staff who are considering leaving the trust is that they don’t feel valued for their work.

Human resources director Shirley Chipperfield said they were actively seeking to address this with a range of initiatives, including a new employee awards scheme.

The Celebrating Excellence Awards will be held at Rheged in June, giving staff, managers and the public a chance to nominate individuals for their hard work and ideas.