The results of the first health system staff engagement survey have been released to the Department of Health and Health Service Providers to share with their staff.
The survey’s Employment Engagement Index (EEI) of 62 per cent was a credible achievement and measured higher against EEIs for the initial surveys in other States e.g. Queensland 37 per cent; NSW 59 per cent.
The Your Voice in Health survey was a McGowan Government election commitment, designed to enable staff to identify issues in the workplace and to ensure that their health and wellbeing was looked after.
The Minister has asked the Western Australian health system leadership teams, through the Health Service Provider Boards and the Department of Health, to implement strategies to address concerns identified in the survey.
Areas of strength across the health system identified by the survey included:
- Staff are positive about their role;
- Staff have a strong focus on service delivery and patient care;
- Staff have a strong commitment to workplace safety;
- Staff feel in alignment with their organisation’s goals and objectives;
- Staff behave in an accepting manner towards people from diverse backgrounds.
The survey identified concerns from staff that aspects of morale and work culture need to be addressed. Staff should be encouraged to speak to leadership and challenge poor workplace practices.
A properly engaged workforce is crucial to ensuring the outcomes of the sustainable health review can be successfully achieved.
The results provide clear identification of which areas need to be addressed – across the system and within individual Health Service Providers. Survey results can be found at https://www.health.wa.gov.au/staffsurvey
As the survey is the first of its kind in WA Health it has provided a baseline from which to take action to improve workforce engagement over the next four annual surveys.
Health system staff will again be surveyed in mid-2020.
As stated by Health Minister Roger Cook:
“The survey results show that staff are committed to providing the best possible care. I value the work of every staff member and want to ensure that our practices and culture reflect this.
“I was heartened that staff across the system felt that the quality of care provided to patients was high, but I understand more needs to be done to support our staff, they should feel valued across the system.
“We are not shying away from issues that need to be addressed, the McGowan Government made an election commitment to conduct this survey so we could hear from staff. We will now act on what we heard.
“I have instructed the Department of Health and the Health Service Provider Boards to start work immediately on identifying changes that need to be made. As this is the first in a series of five annual surveys, I look forward to seeing the participation and the results improve each year.”
