2 weeks Ago By Matthew Black
Article content Employees at Alberta Health Services (AHS) are increasingly feeling disregarded, ignored, and disengaged from their jobs, according to the results of the agency’s 2024 staff survey. The survey was open to just under 89,000 employees and volunteers in November. A summary report was prepared for Dec.
6 of last year, and was acquired by Postmedia through a freedom of information request. The results portray a demoralized workforce that is supportive of each other but highly distrusting of management. The report describes medical staff as feeling “uncertain, unheard, and unrepresented.
” It notes feelings among staff related to the value of their opinions and overall job satisfactions had both declined, while one in three respondents strongly disagreed that they had confidence in leaders to represent their interests. “These responses coupled with single digit response rates indicate AHS medical staff are not engaged with the system,” the summary states. The response rate to the survey fell 3.
3 per cent from the year before, down to 39 per cent, with responses from medical staff dropping by five per cent over the 2023 survey, down to just eight per cent, amounting to 849 responses. The report notes similar decreases in the number of responses from midwives and volunteers, and surmised the trend points to bigger issues with follow-up and accountability. “While AHS has always had low response rates, the declines across all segments is an indicator that little to no action was taken based on the feedback shared via the previous survey,” it states.
“Asking for feedback and not taking action on the opinions shared is a driver of disengagement.” The report notes “meaningful decreases” in overall satisfaction as well as mission and purpose, saying those indicated employees are feeling less connected to AHS as a system. “The transition of AHS from the province’s sole health authority to contracted service provider has resulted in employees who are less sure of their role in the organization and how the changes will impact the quality of health care deliveries.
” In open text replies, employees as a whole most frequently identified the need for improving responses to feedback, strengthening leadership presence and support, and bettering communication and transparency as among the key concerns. Among medical staff, responses to all 13 staff engagement questions showed declining satisfaction over the year before. Similarly, response levels to seven questions about patient safety culture also all showed a unanimous decline in satisfaction.
Trust of co-workers and pride in their local team were among the highest scoring engagement questions for medical staff while changes to AHS and a sense their opinion counts were the lowest. AHS is currently in a transitional period amid the ongoing restructuring of the provincial health care system that will see it transition from being the single provincial health authority to becoming a more narrowly-focused provider . The office for Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said in a statement that she has directed AHS leadership to determine how to improve workplace engagement and satisfaction as a result of the survey.
“Improving morale and engagement among health care workers is essential, not only for their well-being but also for maintaining high-quality patient care,” it states. In a statement, AHS said the survey results are being discussed internally and a staff engagement strategy was being implemented. “We know that when our people are engaged and satisfied at work, they are best prepared and able to deliver safe, quality care to Albertans,” it states.
“We continue to gather feedback from our workforce to understand how we can improve their workplace experience as we move ahead with our efforts to refocus the health care system.” [email protected].
