A SURVEY has revealed the toll the Covid-19 crisis has taken on hospital staff in the Bradford district.

The annual staff survey, carried out between September and December last year, revealed 47 per cent of staff at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust who responded said they had felt unwell in the past 12 months as a result of work-related stress – up from 37 per cent a year earlier.

It reflected the picture across England as a whole, where 44 per cent of NHS staff said they had been unwell due to work-related stress last year, compared to 40 per cent the year before.

Prerana Issar, chief people officer for the NHS, said there needs to be a sustained focus on healthcare workers’ physical and mental health.

"Given the high level of work-related stress for staff caused by the pandemic, we need to maintain our focus on health and wellbeing and give them the support they need during recovery to help us to maintain care for patients," she said.

Around 35 per cent of staff at Bradford Teaching Hospitals said they feel the organisation takes positive action on health and well-being, up from 32 per cent the year before.

Mel Pickup, Chief Executive of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are pleased that, despite the NHS Staff Survey being carried out during the pandemic, our response rate has still improved.

“The NHS has never before experienced a year like this one and it has not been ‘business as usual’ for any of our staff but it is vital for us to be able to understand how staff feel. 

“The survey ran from September to December when many of our staff were redeployed, working remotely or working in different ways."

She added: “While some of our results have shown a downward trend, the increased number of responses this year on itself shows greater engagement during a very difficult year. The pressure of living and working through the pandemic, which has taken its toll on everyone, has undoubtedly been reflected in some of the responses.

“We are pleased our colleagues feel that the Trust takes positive action to support their health and wellbeing, and that we have made positive adjustments to enable them to carry out their work.

“We are listening to what our staff say and will be working with them to improve their experience of work.”

At Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, 41 per cent of staff who responded to the survey said they had felt unwell in the past 12 months as a result of work-related stress – up from 36 per cent a year earlier. Around 34 per cent of staff said they felt positive action was taken on health and wellbeing, consistent with the previous year.

Jo Harrison, Director of People and Organisational Development at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said : “This year has been one of unprecedented demand on our people and the whole of the NHS.

"We know our staff have worked tirelessly and we don’t underestimate the effect the pandemic has had on their health and wellbeing.  We are pleased to see that our staff tell us in the survey that staff engagement and the focus on health and wellbeing has improved this year. 

"This is an absolute priority for us and in the last 12 months we have provided mental health support and counselling, created wellbeing rooms and offered individual risk assessments for all of our staff to ensure they can work safely. We recently launched a new approach to wellbeing at work following feedback from colleagues across the trust from their experience of the pandemic and we will be focussing on this over the coming months."

At Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, 45 per cent of staff who responded said they had felt unwell in the past 12 months as a result of work-related stress – down from 47 per cent a year earlier, while 45 per cent of staff said they felt positive action was taken on health and well-being.That was up from 37 per cent the year before. The Trust was unable to respond by the time of going to press. 

Care minister Helen Whately said while elements of the annual staff survey responses are "encouraging", there is more work to be done.

She said: "We will help staff recover from this pandemic, with investments in mental health support and professional development, along with our commitment to recruiting more doctors, nurses and health support workers so our NHS has the staff it needs."