Nearly half of hospital staff unwell through stress in 2020

David Wilkinson, director of people and organisational development at the trust, said: “The NHS has never before experienced a year like this one and the 2020 staff survey gives us an opportunity to understand our colleagues’ experiences.

“Both in Morecambe Bay and across the NHS, the pandemic has, of course, affected colleague experience. For example, at UHMBT and nationally, perceptions about immediate managers, team working and work-related stress have all worsened in 2020 as the need for fast decisions, deployment to different departments or roles and new practices took hold.

“Significantly more colleagues gave positive answers to questions relating to safety culture which had deteriorated in 2019, but there is still work to do to return to the higher scores of 2018.

Ben Maden, the chair of union staff side for UHMBT, said: “After one of the most intense years the NHS has ever faced, now is the time for coming together, learning and making many more positive changes for the benefit of all staff at UHMBT. While it is easy to dwell on the low points, we must not forget all of the positive progress we’ve made.”