Responding to the results of the latest NHS Staff Survey Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said:

“Amid ongoing industrial action and winter pressures, the latest staff survey shows positive progress in six of the nine overall indicators despite the challenges facing the NHS. This reflects the concerted efforts that leadership teams have been making in recent years to improve the experience of their people, and is also a reflection of the government’s resolution of painful disputes and its commitment to a long term workforce plan.

“There are therefore encouraging signs that staff morale is improving, with fewer staff indicating that they are thinking about leaving the health service and more recommending the NHS as a place to work. The percentage of staff recommending their own organisation as a place for patients to receive care has similarly increased, up to 64 per cent, but this figure is still lower than the 71 per cent we saw in 2019, showing that there is room for improvement.

“Staff views on issues relating to leadership, team working and engagement are also improving, alongside progress that is being made on health and well-being support, which has coincided with a small fall in levels of bullying, harassment, and abuse.

“However, scores on equality and diversity have not improved which is very concerning, and we must all reflect on why this might be. There were only small improvements on the inclusion metric, with significant equality gaps remaining in the experience of women, those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled and LGBT staff. These results show beyond doubt that focusing on diversity and inclusion is key to improving the NHS for our people and the diverse communities we seek to serve.

“Most importantly, this has been the first staff survey to record data on sexual harassment in the NHS. The data shows that there are issues to understand and address across all staff groups, not just the medical profession and the ambulance service, which is where a lot of the work has been progressing to date. NHS organisations have been developing action plans to address these issues and will continue to do so.”