MORE than half of staff within Morecambe Bay hospitals have felt 'pressured' to work despite feeling unwell in the past three months.

The figure comes from the 2016 NHS Staff Survey report for University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT).

2,160 staff took part in the survey, which is a response rate of 42 per cent and average for acute trusts in England.

51 per cent of staff said that they had attended work in the last three months despite feeling unwell because they felt pressure from their manager, colleagues or themselves.

However, this figure has decreased from 2015 when it was at 59 per cent.

The report also revealed that 27 per cent of staff had experienced harassment, bullying or abuse from staff in last 12 months - two per cent above the national 2016 average.

Feedback from staff also showed improvements in a number of areas, when compared to the previous year’s results.

Staff confidence and security in reporting unsafe clinical practice had increased and the percentage of staff reporting their most recent experience of

harassment, bullying or abuse had gone up.

And 76 per cent of those surveyed said that care of patients/service users was the organisation's top priority.

David Wilkinson, director of Workforce and Organisational Development, UHMBT, said: “We are really pleased that we have seen improvements in the staff survey results, which come a month after the Care Quality Commission rated the Trust as ‘Good’ overall and highlighting the huge cultural change at UHMBT.

“From the survey results, it is great news that there has been such an increase in staff feeling confident and secure in reporting unsafe clinical practice, and a 34 per cent increase in staff reporting any experiences of bullying and harassment."

Mr Wilkinson said that there had been a 'cultural shift' where all staff, volunteers, students and governors felt able to raise any issues or concerns and know that they will be addressed confidentially, swiftly, and in line with good practice.

“I’d like to thank all the staff that took the time to respond to the survey," he said. "It is one of a number of important methods we use to gauge what it is like to work in our hospitals - what we are doing right and where we need to do some more work."