Minister in health staff pledge

Susan Deacon wants emphasis placed on NHS staff

Scottish Health Minister Susan Deacon has promised to put staff as well as patients at the heart of the NHS.

Speaking at a conference in Edinburgh, Ms Deacon said that NHS employees needed dignity, equal opportunities at work and called for the eradication of bullying in the workplace.

Ms Deacon announced six priorities which she said would make the NHS in Scotland a more productive, flexible and efficient organisation.

She told the Partnership Forum gathering at Heriot Watt University that the health service had to become an exemplary employer.

NHS management is targeted under the proposals

The minister said: "Staff expect to be managed in a fair and considerate manner wherever they work across the NHS. We must aim to be a model employer.

"Caring is at the core of the NHS so we must care for staff to enable them to balance their working lives."

The minister said staff are more likely to stay with an organisation if flexible arrangements are available to them. Nurses with domestic responsibilites must be encouraged to come back to work, she added.

Ms Deacon said more than 60% of NHS staff have witnessed or experienced bullying and harassment in the workplace.

She said employers had a responsibility to address the issue of bullying.

The Partnership Information Network (Pin) drew up the raft of proposals discussed.

The guidelines will apply to all NHS managers and are geared towards providing an improved working environment for the 130,000 staff.

Ms Deacon said: "The announcement I have made is calling for standards that we will be holding the NHS to account for in the future.

"We want to make sure that NHS employers, right across Scotland, are working to these standards."

The minister said she was confident the proposals would meet with a favourable response from staff and management alike.