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NHS Trusts to Rank Staff Safety Efforts
6 Jul
Summary
- NHS trusts will be ranked on tackling racism, violence, and misconduct.
- Performance ratings will directly impact overall trust scores starting July.
- Nearly 1 in 10 NHS workers experienced unwanted sexual behaviour last year.
Starting July, NHS trusts across England will be subject to new league tables ranking them on six key measures of staff wellbeing. Acute, ambulance, and mental health trusts, serving over 1.5 million staff, will be assessed on their success in combating racism, violence, and sexual misconduct. This marks a significant shift as workforce wellbeing, measured through the NHS staff survey, will now directly affect a trust's overall performance rating.
Minister for secondary care, Karin Smyth, emphasized that these standards, a commitment from a 10-year health plan, introduce formal accountability for employers. This measure comes in response to concerning statistics, with hundreds of thousands of NHS staff reporting attacks and harassment, and nearly one in ten experiencing unwanted sexual behaviour in the past year.
Experts have welcomed the move, though some question the speed of tangible change for staff. Concerns remain about robust enforcement mechanisms to ensure these new standards lead to genuine improvements in the daily working lives of NHS employees. The Royal College of Nursing highlighted the need for enforcement to prevent further staff attrition.
