One of the North East's hospital trusts has been rated as the best in the country by its staff, according to the annual NHS staff survey. However, NHS staff are struggling more and more with burnout and stress as the long-term impact of the pandemic continues to be felt.
Thousands of NHS staff around the country are asked the same 111 questions - and their responses are then used to formulate scores across nine metrics and a number of sub-areas. These include areas around safety, learning, morale, inclusivity and staff engagement. Nationally, the score for "morale" has plummeted this year. Based on questions around pressure at work, stress and if they were thinking about leaving the NHS, the score has fallen to the lowest level since the survey began in 2017 - 5.8 out of 10.
Around the country, according to the data covering late 2021, almost one in three staff "often think about leaving" their jobs, while only 27.2% staff said they felt there were enough employees at their NHS body "for them to do their job properly". That's down 11% year-on-year. More than a quarter of NHS staff said they had been on the end of harassment, bullying or abuse from patients, their relatives or members of the public.
