TWO-THIRDS of Health staff said in exit interviews they left due to cultural issues in the department, a report presented to the Health Advisory Board has revealed.
Stress, a lack of support, poor career development, dissatisfaction with poor decision-making, unresolved performance and conduct issues, and work-life balance were the most consistent reasons for discontent cited by departing employees.
Health chief officer Chris Bown said that the survey results – taken from a sample of exit interviews analysed by HR consultancy firm Law at Work – were not a surprise, as they were aware of the significant cultural changes the department faced.
Mr Bown said: “It is of concern and it’s no surprise, and that’s why we’ve been putting a lot of work into cultural development with the ‘freedom to speak up guardian’ supporting people who have issues with wellbeing and teams – there’s a whole range of cultural issues.
“Remember, though, that the voluntary turnover rate in Health and Community Services is just over 4%, and that is incredibly low compared with London, where you might be looking at 18%.”
The “freedom to speak up guardian” role was created following accusations of a bullying culture within the Health Department, with a review and subsequent report produced by Professor Hugo Mascie-Taylor highlighting that “bias against standardisation” and “vested interests” were dominant in the Island’s health service – Prof Mascie-Taylor was subsequently appointed to the Health Advisory Board as its interim chair until he was replaced by Tom Hayhoe, who left in April due to “differences in working styles” with the Health Minister after one month in the role.
Prof Mascie Taylor’s report cited problems with culture as one of the principal challenges facing the department.
“There is not a culture of transparency and indeed, resistance to it from some who view any form of governance with suspicion and any move towards assuring quality and safety with transparent accountability as, at best, unnecessary, and at worst, frustrating bureaucratic interference,” he wrote.
Mr Bown’s concern over the survey results was shared by Carolyn Downs, who chaired yesterday’s Health Advisory Board meeting.
She said it was “really concerning” that over 66% of those leaving cited what she categorised as “cultural issues”. “It is not good,” she commented at the meeting.
Total turnover of staff within HCS remains largely constant. In the 12-month period to the end of April this year, 167 people left the department, a rate of 6.7%, compared with 6.6% calculated the previous month. Of these, 111 were voluntary resignations, a rate of 4.5%.
Asked whether he believed that the measures implemented by Health might produce different outcomes in staff exit surveys today, Mr Bown replied: “I think it is too soon. I said a year ago when I arrived it was going to take longer than 12 months to resolve and you’d see it in most health systems. A culture built up over 15 years minimum, probably decades, is going to take longer to change.”
