A recent survey of 238 people carried out at our YORTRAIN GOLD conference has found that a staggering 92% of healthcare professionals believe that NHS budget cuts have hindered the quality of care to patients.
Only 8% of respondents believed that NHS budget cuts had not had hindered the quality of care.
With the prime minister Theresa May announcing in her Conservative Party Conference speech that the government “will always support the [National Health] Service to deliver safe, high quality care for all”, our results show that those who work within the sector feel very differently.
Funding proved by far to be one of the most prevalent issues in our results; a further 96% of those who took part in our survey agreed that they require more funding to carry out their day-to-day work. Of those who currently work in the public sector, 40% admitted that they would consider moving to the private sector, yet 8 out of 10 healthcare workers showed no desire to leave the industry altogether.
Almost all survey respondents agreed that OTs needed more funding to carry out their day-to-day work.
94% of those who took part in the survey believe that the health secretary Jeremy Hunt is not leading the NHS in the right direction. And interestingly, the respondents showed that the Brexit decision had some impact on the industry, with 147 out of 213 people agreeing that it had made a change to healthcare.
Our respondents have shown that the Brexit Decision has certainly had an impact on healthcare.
When asked what changes they would like to see in healthcare over the next 5 years, the most popular suggestions were for additional funding and better communication between health and social care. However, the results indicated that low staff levels are an issue, with 90% of therapists agreeing that there is a shortfall of people in their profession.
9 out of 10 respondents think that the NHS needs to employ more OTs to keep up with rising demand and pressure in the public sector.
Our CEO, Tom Hulbert, said:
“It is alarming that those who work within the NHS believe that the quality of care has declined because this is a key concern what with the growing strain on the NHS when it has less money and more patients. Actions need to be taken to ensure that NHS staff have the best resources available so that they can deliver high-quality care.
“It’s no real surprise that OTs and other healthcare professionals are feeling the pinch with budget cuts, but I think this survey shows just how disillusioned they are with the current system.”
Graeme has worked alongside the public sector for much of his working life, helping departments improve efficiencies and deliver on projects. In his role at Vivid.Care, Graeme used his experience to tackle some of the most challenging issues in the healthcare sector, from falls through to winter pressures. He was also a guest speaker and a number of different conferences, including at the Falls Prevention Summit in London.
