NHS to Rank Hospitals on Staff Safety

In England, NHS trusts will soon be evaluated and ranked according to their efforts in combating racism, violence, and sexual misconduct directed at staff. Starting in July, all acute, ambulance, and mental health trusts will be subject to these new performance standards, impacting more than 1.5 million employees. Primary care, such as GP practices, is currently excluded but may be included in the future.

These standards will assess trusts on six key areas: tackling racism, preventing violence, ensuring sexual safety, promoting flexible working, effective line management, and health and wellbeing support. Each trust will receive a score from one to four for these measures, contributing to their overall rating. This development marks a significant shift, as workforce wellbeing, assessed through the NHS staff survey, will now directly affect a trust's performance alongside metrics like waiting lists and A&E times.

Minister for secondary care, Karin Smyth, emphasized that these changes aim to provide formal accountability for employers regarding staff treatment. The move is a commitment within a 10-year health plan. Recent data indicates widespread issues, with hundreds of thousands of staff experiencing attacks or harassment, and nearly one in ten reporting unwanted sexual behaviour in the past year.

While experts welcome the new measures, they question the speed of visible change for staff. Concerns remain about robust enforcement mechanisms to ensure improvements in daily working life and to prevent staff from leaving the NHS due to poor treatment.