Nine Of Ten HSC Staff Feel They 'Make A Difference'

Nine out of ten staff working in Health and Social Care (HSC) in Northern Ireland believe they make a difference to patients.

The finding follows a survey of about 17,000 staff working in Health and Social Care (HSC) organisations across Northern Ireland.

Almost 40% (6,798) of staff responded to the survey between 5 September 2012 and 26 October 2012.

The results indicate 59% of staff feel care of patients is the organisation’s top priority; a significant increase from 51% in 2009.

84% said they were satisfied with the quality of care they deliver to patients. 90% felt their role made a difference to patients/clients/service users.

There was an increase, from 50% in 2009 to 56% in 2012, in staff saying they would recommend their organisation as a place to work.

13% of staff said they had experienced physical violence at work, either from patients or other service users in the past 12 months. This was a fall from 15% reported in 2009.

A further 19% said they had experienced harassment, bullying or abuse from patients and service users in the past 12 months; also down on 22% in 2009.

78% of staff said if they were concerned about negligence or wrongdoing by staff that they would know how to report their concerns.

This was about the same level as 2009.

While in 2009 six out of 10 staff (60%) reported there was a system to report wrongdoing by staff confidentially, in 2012 this figure had increased to seven in ten staff (70%).

Health Minister Edwin Poots said: "The findings of this survey demonstrate the high level of commitment and dedication of staff working in our HSC organisations. It has provided an extremely useful basis for comparison on how the views and experiences of the HSC workforce have changed over the last 2-3 years."

The survey was the second of its kind, the first having been undertaken in 2009 and conducted by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS).

(IT/MH)