NHS staff work longer hours (From Witney Gazette)

NHS staff work longer hours

3:04pm Thursday 23rd March 2006 in Witney By Victoria Owen

SEVEN out of every ten workers at Oxfordshire's major hospitals are working longer hours as pressures continue to rise within the county's NHS.

Union leaders blamed a rising deficit which will reach £28m at the end of March for the heavy workloads highlighted in a staff survey, and warned the situation was likely to worsen in the next 12 months.

According to a Healthcare Commission questionnaire, 79 per cent of workers at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, and The Horton, Banbury, claimed to be doing overtime.

It revealed 70 per cent worked extra hours due to pressures and the demands of their job, and six in every ten were not paid for the work including five per cent who claimed to do more than 11 wageless hours.

As a result, almost four in every ten of the 500 respondents said they suffered from work-related stress.

The 2005 survey showed the number of Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust's (ORH) employees doing extra hours had increased since 2004, when chief executive, Trevor Campbell-Davis, admitted his committed workforce was vital in helping meet Government targets.

"Everyone works extra hours, because they know if they don't, someone else will be dumped in it, and left to struggle."

Royal College of Nursing spokesman Patricia Marquis

Royal College of Nursing spokesman, Patricia Marquis, said: "The past year has been really difficult across Thames Valley, and particularly difficult within the ORH.

"We know they're under immense pressure to deliver on a range of targets, set alongside a significant savings plan.

"Although we've only seen a few redundancies, there've been numerous cuts in posts, and recently we've seen a real reduction in agency staff.

"Everyone works extra hours, because they know if they don't, someone else will be dumped in it, and left to struggle."

Mark Ladbrooke, chairman of Unison's Oxfordshire health group, said: "This is an extremely alarming situation, particularly in relation to the huge service cuts and job freezes caused by the deficit."

ORH managers said staff were given many opportunities to ensure a good work-life balance, including flexible working and training schemes.

Deputy personnel director, Rainy Faisey, said: "The ORH is similar to many large acute trusts where staff are working extra hours to deliver high-quality patient care.

"Staff working extra hours without pay is a genuine problem, and some do an extra hour to tidy up loose ends. It's not something we encourage, and we're looking at it carefully through the working time directives to ensure staff aren't working excessive hours.

"We haven't got a recruitment freeze in place, but we're trying to contain recruitment, hiring enough people to deliver patient care."