The vast majority of HSE staff felt supported during the Covid-19 pandemic but more than half felt there has been a negative change in their working environment, a new survey has found.
Staff across the health service were asked about their work, and responses from almost 13,000 staff showed a mixed impact since the pandemic with staff saying they were more enthusiastic about their job than in 2018 but were less optimistic about their future in the health service.
Three in 10 said they had been subject to assault from the public in the past two years. One in three felt more positively towards the HSE since before the pandemic began.
The survey found there had been an increase in the satisfaction with the level of care delivered since 2018 but almost four in 10 felt the service delivered was deteriorating.
There was a strong sense of job security among staff, but satisfaction levels have fallen back on the previous survey three years ago. A third said they were dissatisfied at present.
Less than half said they feel they have necessary resources to be able to do their jobs. Half of staff felt senior managers did not involve them in important decisions or act on staff feedback.
Bullied
Despite the fact that an anti-bullying taskforce was set up after the previous survey, the same number of staff reported experiences of being bullied by a colleague as in 2018. Three in 10 said they had experienced bullying or harassment at work from a manager, team leader or other colleagues.
Three-quarters of people said they were enthusiastic about their job, an increase of eight points on three years ago, while six in 10 said they looked forward to going to work, up four points.
More than eight in 10 people said they were satisfied with the quality of care they gave patients, an increase of nine points on the 2018 survey.
Key areas cited as needing improvement centred around recognition and being valued.
Asked about the survey, a spokesman for the HSE said: “The last two years have been very challenging for staff, and the resilience and positive attitudes of staff shows great commitment to working to make the lives of patients and service users better.”
The spokesman said the HSE would use the survey results “to inform how to make the health service a better place to work in the future by improving workplace culture, increasing frontline staff numbers and allowing more flexibility in working conditions”.
