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The NHS Staff Survey results have been released, and we're pleased to share that our results are “overwhelmingly positive”, compared to the sector and our scores last year, with staff recommending Oxleas as a place to work and for treatment notably high.

The survey compares our results against 51 mental health and learning disability or mental health, learning disability and community trusts. There are nine headline topics that are explored:

• staff engagement
• morale
• compassionate and inclusivity
• recognition and reward
• having a voice that counts
• safety and health
• always learning
• working flexibly
• teamwork

We improved our headline scores from last year and our staff reported more positive experiences than the average in every topic overall and the result for staff feeling involved was the highest nationally.

Our response rate of 56% is the highest we’ve ever achieved and 8% higher than the national average response rate - with 50% of questions overall, scoring significantly better than similar organisations and 37% of our responses significantly better than last year.

We made improvements across all categories and outperformed most average scores and were significantly better in more areas than ever before. Staff engagement, morale, teamwork and line management scores were especially high.

Here are some of the key findings from those who responded to the survey:

Over 85% agree that care of patients and service users is our top priority, significantly higher than average and last year’s results; over 88% feel their role makes a difference to patient and service users. 75% would recommend Oxleas as a place to work compared to the 66% average score for the sector. While 71% would recommend care at the trust against a 65% average.

The belief amongst staff at Oxleas that ‘we each have a voice that counts’ was particularly high, scoring better than the sector average in 10 of the 11 questions posed.

When it comes to whether we are a learning organisation, we ranked significantly better than average in all but one of the categories, the one remaining category was also higher than average and an improvement on last year’s score.

Over 80% of our workforce say that we respect individual differences, such as culture, background, working styles, ideas etc. 83% of us feel our line manager values our work and 93% of us feel trusted to do our jobs.

We have more work to do to tackle discrimination relating to ethnicity and areas where coverage of appraisals is low. We will also address the reasons for why some of our staff appear to be working unpaid overtime.

The results from our Bank survey were equally as positive and it’s been great that they’re included in the survey.

Ify Okocha, our Chief Executive, said of the results this year:

“I would like to thank everyone who completed the survey this year and I’m really encouraged that my colleagues are seeing the results of improvements we’ve been making in the workplace.

“We’ve made great progress and score significantly better than the sector across many areas, though we’re not complacent. I’m very mindful that there is room for improvement, especially across the 6% of questions where we fared worse than the sector, these areas will be our focus over the coming year.”

Oxleas Chair Andy Trotter said:

“Oxleas is regarded by many as a great place to work. Our Sunday Times ranking and Health Service Journal recognition are testimony to that. We have always believed that this would lead to continued improvements in quality of care for our patients and it’s really positive to see this coming to fruition.”

See the full national results here: National results across the NHS in England | NHS Staff Survey (nhsstaffsurveys.com)