Third of nurses ‘feel bullied’ over patient care practices

In addition, almost half of the healthcare workers surveyed said they were concerned their organisation could follow in the footsteps of Mid Staffordshire Foundation trust.

The YouGov survey of 1,021 healthcare workers – predominantly nurses – was commissioned by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the Healthcare People Management Association (HPMA).

It found that 43% of respondents were worried that examples of poor patient care, such as those highlighted in the Stafford Hospital scandal, could occur where they work.

In addition, 33% of nurses and 27% of doctors and surgeons in the survey reported being put under excessive pressure or bullied to behave in ways that are counter to patient care within the last two years.

Large number of healthcare workers also admitted to a lack of confidence in their organisation, its integrity and its leadership.

They highlighted the biggest barriers to changing culture in the NHS and improving patient care as quality of guidance from the very top and a lack of assurance among staff that whistleblowers will be protected.

Commenting on the findings, CIPD chief executive Peter Cheese claims smarter use of information on frontline NHS employees could help prevent more scandals over poor patient care by highlighting early warning signs before problems escalate to crisis point.

“NHS leaders should ensure they are putting more emphasis on monitoring, analysing and, crucially, acting on people management information and feedback from staff, which can provide early warning indicators for potential culture, capability and capacity problems linked to poor standards of care,” he said.

“Information from patients about their experience is of course crucial but good quality management information can flag problems further upstream before patient care has been fatally undermined.”

The report by Robert Francis QC into poor patient care provided at Mid Staffordshire Foundation trust called for the creation “of a common culture shared by all putting the patient first”.

Based on the findings of the survey, however, it looks as though there is a long way to go before this is achieved.

Source Nursing Times