Hospital trust among worst to work for - survey

A trust which runs hospitals in North Yorkshire has been ranked by its staff as one of the worst in England to work in.

The York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust came in the bottom five when staff were asked if they would recommend working there in a national survey conducted last autumn.

The NHS Staff Survey looked at the experiences of 700,000 employees throughout England's 215 trusts in 2024.

The trust said the results "do not reflect where we want to be" and mirrored the "hugely challenging environment we are working in".

It was ranked the lowest in the North East and Yorkshire region, with only 45% of staff "agreeing" or "strongly agreeing" they would recommend it as a place to work, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Speaking at a meeting of North Yorkshire Council's Scarborough and Whitby Committee, Councillor Rich Maw said: "I'd like to spare a thought for our dedicated local NHS staff doing their best to care for us all, despite the difficulties they endure.

"The Health Service Journal has analysed the full results of the 2024 NHS Staff Survey and the York and Scarborough NHS Trust was one of the worst performers nationally."

Scarborough and Whitby MP Alison Hume said: "The staff do such a wonderful job and work so hard for all of us, that it is disappointing that the working conditions they're reporting aren't good enough."

The trust runs hospitals across North Yorkshire in York, Scarborough, Selby and Malton and also Bridlington Hospital in East Yorkshire.

The chief executive of the York and Scarborough NHS Trust, Simon Morritt, said the message from colleagues was "loud and clear that we have a long way to go".

"The overall response rate of 36% means we are not hearing from almost two-thirds of our staff," he added.

"We have also seen a decline in our overall engagement score, and the extent to which colleagues would recommend our trust as a place to work and to receive treatment.

"The responses also suggest that people are not confident they can influence improvement or drive change."

Mr Morritt, who described the results as disappointing, said solutions would not arrive in the form of significant new investment in services or workforce and that a "fundamental shift in our thinking" was needed towards "how we use what we already have".

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