· Half of frontline care and healthcare workers are cutting corners at work
· Around 1 in 3 say they have risked their safety ‘several times’
· Staff feel pressured to meet targets and say they’re understaffed and poorly equipped
14 May 2024 – Frontline care and healthcare staff in the UK say they’re having to cut corners and risk their safety to meet the demands of the job, prompting calls for employers to provide extra support.
According to new research, half of those working on the frontline (52%) have admitted to cutting corners in their place of work.
More than half of those surveyed (62%) also said they’d risked their own health and safety at work, with around one in three (37%) having done so ‘several times’. Care and healthcare workers said they cut corners because they didn’t have the necessary equipment, were understaffed and were under pressure to meet deadlines.
The research further reveals a gap in trust, as one in five say they reported a near miss to their employer, but it wasn’t taken seriously. Another 17% who saw a near miss didn’t report it, in some cases because they thought their employer wouldn’t take it seriously.
The survey was conducted by SafetyCulture, a global technology company whose workplace operations platform is used by more than 18,000 UK businesses and organisations.
Alex Brooks-Sykes, SafetyCulture’s lead for UK & Ireland, said: “Health and care workers provide such a vital service to people in need, but it seems in their efforts to meet the demands of the job they continue to put themselves at risk.
“For care organisations the technology exists to react in real-time, minimise disruption and keep staff safe by ensuring they’ve got the right equipment and training. They’re simple principles, but they can make a big impact.”
On top of pressures in the workplace, care and healthcare workers reported feeling stretched and stressed by external disruption. The top five disruptions those surveyed said had prevented them from doing their job in the past 12 months were hot temperatures, traffic on roads, icy weather, train delays and bus disruption.
These external factors impact productivity. More than half (57%) of frontline staff said they arrived late, and nearly a third (30%) were unable to leave home at some point last year due to disruptions, meaning they couldn’t do their job at all.
Another concern for the sector is that nearly a third of workers (30%) reported feeling physically or mentally unwell as a result of disruption.
SafetyCulture suggests employers can do more to support staff dealing with the consequences.
Alex added: “Communication is key. While the health and social care sector is adept at reacting to change, weather and travel disruption is something that will continue to cause challenges. Managers should anticipate more of this disruption and maintain an open dialogue with frontline staff across all teams and departments.”
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