To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take in response to the finding in the Healthcare Commission’s report State of Healthcare 2008 that 33 per cent. of NHS staff report that they are stressed at work. (244225)

The 33 per cent. figure quoted in the State of Healthcare Report 2008 is taken from the NHS Staff Survey Report 2007.

It is important that the staff survey results inform future work to improve the working lives of NHS staff at national, regional and local level.

NHS Employers has developed a range of advice, guidance and tools to support employers in addressing stress in the workplace and these can be found at:

www.nhsemployers.org/practice/practice-4010.cfm

For example in spring 2009 NHS Employers, working in partnership with the Health and Safety Executive, staff side organisations and the NHS Litigation Authority will be running a series of workshops to exchange good practice already developed with the service.