The morale among NHS workers at an east London hospital trust has fallen to its lowest since 2018, according to a staff survey.

More than 39 per cent of staff members at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT) rated their experiences at work on various grounds between October and November last year.

They were responding to the NHS Staff Survey 2022 and the results have now been published.

The trust runs Queen's Hospital in Romford and King George Hospital in Goodmayes. 

The score for morale was the lowest since 2018 and below the national average.

The trust rated worse on 'thinking about leaving' than the previous year while a higher percentage of respondees (36.7pc) agreed they 'often think about leaving' BHRUT than in 2021's survey.

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Matthew Trainer, chief executive of the trust, said he was "saddened" to see staff morale go down.

The number of respondents who would be happy with the care if a friend or relative needed treatment continued to decline for its hospitals to just 46.7pc in 2022.

Mr Trainer said: “Our focus now is acting on what our staff are telling us, such as improving morale and a sense of pride in coming to work; staff wellbeing; and career development."

The trust scored slightly better on work life balance than in 2021, as well as compassion and inclusivity and teamwork.

Mr Trainer said he was pleased with these improvements and added: “The initiatives we’ve introduced over the last year such as our support with the cost-of-living crisis, and launching our shadow executive to empower staff, will have played a role in this."

The trust however would take a number of years to address all the issues in the report, Mr Trainer believed, and added that it is coming up with a new scheme for colleagues to recognise their peers for going the extra mile.

He said: “A newly established staff experience steering group, including clinical colleagues, staff network leads and trade union members, will oversee actions based on feedback, and all staff will have the opportunity to engage with, and inform, our improvements”.