Only a third of NHS Scotland workers feel positive there are enough staff for them to do their job properly, an employee survey has revealed.
The trend was revealed in a largely positive NHS Scotland Staff Survey for 2014, which received more than 55,000 responses from employees across the health service up by 10,000 from last year.
Employees answered questions on a number of issues such as training, staffing and management.
The results show an improvement in the proportion of staff giving a positive response in the majority of questions compared to the 2013 survey results.
Asked about whether they were happy to “go the extra mile” at work when required, 90% of staff agreed.
Elsewhere, 59% of staff responded positively when asked if health boards act fairly and offer equality of opportunity, up by 15% from the 2013 survey, while 67% of staff agreed that the care of patients is health boards’ top priority, up 12%.
However, when asked about being consulted about change at work, only 29% responded positively and only 33% were positive about there being “enough staff for me to do my job properly”.
Health Secretary Shona Robison met staff at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee to discuss the results of the survey.
She said: “This annual feedback from staff throughout the organisation is extremely important in letting us know what is going right and where we can make improvements.”
Royal College of Nursing Scotland director Theresa Fyffe said: “The results from this year’s survey show that, overall, staff’s experience of working for NHS Scotland has improved in many areas and there has also been a welcome increase in the number of staff taking part in the survey.”
The survey found that the number of nurses and midwives who believe it is safe to speak up and challenge the way things are done if they have concerns about quality has improved, up to 57% this year.
Mrs Fyffe said: “This is still an area which needs substantial improvement, but perhaps, like getting their priorities right, health boards are starting to realise that they must listen to their staff’s concerns and take action.”