Staff survey 2024 report and action plan

Meeting: Trust Board – Public Meeting

Date: 7 May 2025

Report Title: Staff survey 2024 report and action plan

Agenda Item: PUB25/05/5.5

Author: Lauren Singleton, Deputy Director of Culture and Leadership

Lead Director: Marika Stephenson, Chief People Officer and Deputy CEO

Purpose: Information/Noting

Assurance: Substantial

Link to CQC domain: Well-led

Link to Strategic Objective: Be an exceptional place to work, volunteer and learn.

Link to Strategic Risk:

• SR1a: If we do not ensure our people are safe and their wellbeing prioritised, there is a risk that we will be unable to attract, retain and keep all our people safe and well.
• SR1b: If we do not ensure our leaders are developed and equipped, there is a risk that we will not be able to change our culture, and value, support, develop and grow our people.

Equality Impact Assessment: No negative impact identified.

Previously considered by: Executive Leadership Team (ELT)

Purpose: This report provides the Public Board with a summary of the 2024 NHS Staff Survey results for EEAST, highlighting key achievements and areas for improvement. The results were collected by Picker Management, the contracted survey provider. A summary slide deck detailing the staff survey results, alongside a communications plan, is attached. An additional summary is included for the Bank staff survey results. The main focus of this paper is on substantive staff data, as it provides a more robust basis for year-on-year comparison and analysis.

Recommendation: The Board is asked to review and acknowledge the contents of this report for assurance purposes.

Executive summary:

EEAST took part in the NHS annual staff survey towards the end of 2024. On 22 December 2024, EEAST received their (embargoed) results, generated from a 48% response rate of EEAST staff. EEAST also attracted a 27.2% response rate for Bank Staff, which was an above average response rate across participating ambulance Trusts.

Staff Results The results for staff indicated a positive response, continuing to build on the previous results received in 2023. There were 100 comparable questions asked in the 2024 survey; 31 questions scored significantly better than 2023 and 66 questions scored around the same as 2023. Three questions scored significantly lower than 2023. These results made EEAST the top organisation out of all seven ambulance Trusts, for year-on-year improvement, for the third year in a row. EEAST have also been awarded another recognition certificate by NHS England for improvement in all areas of the People Promise, alongside Staff Engagement and Morale, within the 2024 NHS Staff Survey.

We also saw a number of positive improvements, albeit a smaller increase from previous years, in staff perceptions of patient care (up 1% on 2023), standard of care for family and friends (up 2% on 2023) and an increase in 4% of staff recommending EEAST as a great place to work. The combined impact on these positive changes, is that EEAST has now moved from being 7 out of 7 comparable ambulance Trusts, to being 6 out of 7, showing we have continued to close the gap in average scores across the board.

Bank Staff Results Bank Staff were surveyed on a similar number of questions within the staff survey, to help us understand their experiences. EEAST obtained a higher than average level of Bank Staff responses compared to other ambulance Trusts, with a 27.2% response rate.

The results, whilst based on a comparably low proportion of our workforce, demonstrated several positive areas. In particular, Bank Staff report fewer negative experiences (bullying, harassment or discrimination), better team working and good work life balance. Bank Staff did, however, report worse experiences around compassionate leadership, access to personal development and being involved in innovation or change.

Summary Whilst the data highlights that progress is clearly being made, there is still work to do on a number of fronts, firstly to increase the proportion of staff/bank staff who participate and engage with the survey and secondly to improve the outcomes for all our staff by delivering on our vision to be a great place to work. For the main staff survey, there were also a few areas highlighted which show a decline in satisfaction compared to 2023, which will require further review and action.

A number of activities have been proposed to take the data from the NHS staff survey forward and build upon the intelligence it provides on the ‘health’ of the organisation. The aim of this year is to further embed ownership and accountability of staff survey result action plans within each directorate/sector, to further strengthen the link between feedback and action. This is outlined further in the accompanying summary slide deck for staff. Listening Into Action events are taking place Trust-wide with Directorates expected to submit action plans by 09 May 2025.

Introduction/background:

The NHS Staff Survey is conducted annually. All eligible NHS organisations in England are required to participate in the survey. Picker, the survey contractor, worked with 7 ambulance Trusts on the NHS Staff Survey 2023. Each organisation receives a report which shows the results in comparison to the average of similar organisations, as well as the organisation results from 2023. Whilst Bank staff have been included in the staff survey, their response data is reported separately; this means all data referenced in this paper is reporting on like for like in terms of the results generated from the staff respondents.

The NHS staff survey results for EEAST were received late December 2024 and embargoed until February 2025.

Staff Survey There were 100 comparable questions asked in the 2024 survey; 31 questions scored significantly better than 2023 and 66 questions scored around the same as 2023. Three questions scored significantly lower than 2023. EEAST achieved a 48% completion rate which was lower than EEASTs 2022 response rate of 60% and 2023 rate of 58%.

The 2024 NHS staff survey results generally show positive results for EEAST. Out of the seven comparable Ambulance Trusts, EEAST was the top organisation in terms of showing the most positive change in responses between 2024 and 2023 data; an accolade now held for 3 years in a row. A breakdown of the changes in response between 2024 and 2023 data can be shown in figure 1 below, with 71 questions showing a better response than the previous year. The previous years comparison is also shown for context.

Figure 1

We can also see that this year’s data showed a ‘levelling’ of satisfaction rates. For the last two years, we have seen considerable growth in satisfaction rates for each question, within a range of approximately 5-10%. This year, our satisfaction rate growth was between 1-5%. This is not necessarily cause for concern, rather it may indicate we are moving towards a more stable level of employee satisfaction; Figure 1 above shows that two thirds of our scores this year had no significant difference in rating this year, compared to only around a quarter last year.

We have also seen that EEAST has now moved from the bottom of the league table in comparison to the other seven ambulance Trusts, to 6th place. The improvement in our staff satisfaction rates over the last three years has allowed EEAST to close the gap on average scores compared to other ambulance Trusts. This can also be seen in Figure 2 below which shows that 58 of our questions were scored significantly worse in 2024 compared to 73 questions in 2023.

Figure 2

For ease of review, the accompanying summary slide decks for staff and also for Bank staff have been attached as appendices, to provide a high-level summary of the data.

Current activities Three organisational priorities for improving staff experience in 2025 have been identified. This allows us to provide staff with an ongoing narrative regarding our actions following the NHS staff survey, which has previously been missing, via a monthly/quarterly communications update.

Within the attached slide deck, we have extracted five People Promise areas that had limited or plateauing staff satisfaction scores this year.

• Always Learning
• Recognised and Rewarded
• Safe and Healthy

Last year we introduced the ‘Listening into Action’ programme, which asked all directorates/sectors to create a staff survey action plan following a short period of staff engagement. Eleven plans were created and submitted, with varying levels of commitment and action taken throughout 2024. Listening into Action events are currently ongoing in each Directorate with all directorates expected to submit.

Key issues/Risks:

The NHS staff survey results are generally a good news story, highlighting some positive progress in the right direction for the Trust. These improvements demonstrate that our continued focus on improving culture, staff and patient experience is making a difference.

We must be mindful, however, that our 2024 results did not show the same rate of improvement that we have seen in the past two years. Our average % improvement per question was lower this year and, whilst not necessarily cause for immediate concern, we must consider this to be a critical moment in our cultural transformation.

For us to continue to improve our staff morale and experience, we must be able to progress our cultural ambitions throughout 2025-26 against a tough financial backdrop, which may serve to distract or reduce our ability to implement key cultural programmes. Delivering sustained and continuous improvement remains a critical challenge for the whole organisation, during a year ahead of change.

Summary:

The NHS staff survey provides EEAST with an organisational health check; a compass for seeing progress, ongoing challenges and the impacts of intentional change programmes. The results indicate that EEAST has made some great strides forward in terms of its culture and in many respects, has continued to shape a positive employee narrative about working here.

It remains important to reflect that whilst great progress has been made, EEAST must continue to demonstrate, through tangible actions, that continuous improvements are being made. The NHS staff survey serves as a useful reminder that changing the culture is a journey, not a destination but the data from 2024 shows EEAST is continuing to head in the right direction.