Hospital managers seek to boost low staff morale

Hospital managers have "absolutely acknowledged that morale has dipped" amid efforts to manage a £49.3m deficit and said they are working to improve it.

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) announced proposals last year to cut about 150 administrative roles but later confirmed "compulsory redundancies" were off the table.

Kim O'Keefe, acting chief executive of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust, said her team saw "a small number of staff leave" during the clinical admin review, in which the trust consulted with about 500 people.

She noted it had been "holding vacancies" to "make sure nobody was made redundant" and 60 jobs were currently being advertised under the trust.

The RCHT said in October last year that its share of a £110m cost improvement programme - which aimed to identify measures to cut expenditure - for 2025/26 meant the organisation had to deliver savings of £49.3m.

It said then the proposals aimed to offer better structured and more rewarding roles, along with improved career pathways and ensuring patients benefited from a consistent high level of administrative support.

Deputy chief strategy officer Zoe Greatrex said it had been a "difficult time for the trust" with a "huge amount of change" which "really impacts on people day-to-day".

She said: "We're doing a huge amount of work in terms of listening to staff, and not just listening, but acting on what they're telling us.

"Our executives are doing a lot around making sure they're visible, hearing the feedback and then acting on that."

Greatrex said the trust knew organisational change was "always going to impact people personally" but stressed "nobody is being made redundant through this process".

She added this did not "take away from the uncertainty that can cause" but the trust was "really working hard to support staff through this process and to be able to embed the changes as smoothly as possible".

After listening to staff, the trust has brought back its RCHT Awards, which see staff put forward for their work by members of the public.

Greatrex said any nominations would be "really close to the heart of our staff" and encouraged anyone who had "had an experience where a member of staff has made a real difference to their care" to nominate them.

She said: "It's just a really great way to recognise the fantastic contribution of our staff under what is often quite challenging circumstances."

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