One in nine staff at the East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust say they have experienced discrimination at work, according to the results of the 2024 National NHS Staff Survey.
More than half of the Trust’s workforce responded to the survey, which was carried out in autumn 2024. The findings were presented to the Trust board on Wednesday, 14 May.
According to the survey, 11.6 per cent of respondents said they had personally experienced discrimination at work from patients, service users, their relatives, or other members of the public within the past 12 months. Meanwhile, 10.8 per cent said they had experienced discrimination from a manager, team leader, or another colleague.
A report presented to the board highlighted the Trust’s ongoing work to reduce discrimination, both from service users and among staff. It referenced the Trust’s equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) strategy, the newly established EDI steering group, and the ‘courageous conversations programme’, which specifically focuses on race discrimination in the workplace.
The same report also pointed to significant improvement in eight of the nine “domains” covered in the staff survey. Based on these results, the Trust is ranked as the fourth most improved in the country.
According to the NHS People Promise, the Trust saw improvements in areas such as compassion and inclusion, staff having a voice, safety and health, learning, flexible working, and team culture. The Trust also recorded notable progress in staff engagement and morale.
Following the meeting, Trust board chair Anita Day issued a statement to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, acknowledging both the positive results and the importance of addressing discrimination within the organisation.
“More staff than ever say that our trust is a better place to work, and we are 4th most improved in the country,” said Anita Day. “There was significant improvement in eight of the nine areas reported in the survey. However we will always look at the areas we need to do better, and it’s right that the Board take very seriously the issue of discrimination, particularly racial discrimination. Fewer staff are reporting discrimination by managers and colleagues, but more staff have reported discrimination by patients and members of the public. We are committed to taking action when our staff tell us about instances of discrimination – whether by colleagues or from patients and the public – and we will continue with actions in our equality, diversity and inclusion strategy to ensure our staff feel safe and able to deliver the best possible care.”
Trust chief executive Adam Sewell-Jones also referenced the survey results in a written report presented to the board.
“The trust has been named as one of the most improved trusts in the country, following the publication of the 2024 NHS Staff Survey,” says the report. “The trust was listed as the fourth most improved nationally, with a four per cent increase compared to 2023. The trust also saw a 4.8 per cent increase of staff ‘agreeing’ or ‘strongly agreeing’ they would recommend it as a place to work. The feedback of our staff is so important in helping us to improve their experience and how we deliver the very best care for patients. The NHS Staff Survey is focused around the nine NHS People Promises. The trust saw improvements in all nine of the People Promises, significantly improving in eight of these.”
The Trust recorded an overall survey response rate of 50.41 per cent, which is 1.8 per cent higher than the national average. According to the report presented to the board, this makes the results “statistically accurate”.
Responses were collected between 9 September and 29 November 2024.
Deborah is a Local Democracy Reporter covering news across Hertfordshire, with a strong focus on councils, local government and public policy. Her reporting includes county council decisions, council tax, spending pressures, legal and regulatory issues, healthcare stories including junior doctors, and community projects affecting local residents.
