HOSPITAL bosses have launched an action plan after a survey revealed workers feel disenfranchised from their leaders.

Only a third of the 3,620 staff who responded to the survey at Colchester and Ipswich Hospitals’s trust agreed communication between senior management and staff was effective.

More than a quarter of the workforce did not know who senior managers were and only a quarter felt managers act on feedback.

A trust report to its board, comparing it to other hospitals, said it scored “significantly lower than average in questions relating to leadership and communication”.

The merger last July between the two hospitals was suggested as one reason for the “gap” between staff and bosses, during a meeting where it was discussed.

Trust chief executive Nick Hulme said the feedback was the organisation’s “greatest disappointment” in the past year.

Addressing executive bosses he added: “They don’t perceive us as senior managers, it is the ward sister, general managers.

“It is the person they perceive as sorting out pay and rations - the person most senior to them.”

The survey took place between October and December last year but results were published in February.

Trust chairman David White, who is leaving the organisation, added: “We know this is a key area.

“What we know is staff are the lifeblood of the organisation.

“The importance of them buying into the work of the trust - this has to be from the board level downwards and ward level upwards.

“This has to be a key focus going forward.”

Extra meetings were held in light of the staff feedback with work taking place to publicise who managers are.

The meeting heard measures to try to improve staff involvement include recruiting a new head of engagement, a new quarterly trust magazine and reintroduction of staff awards ceremonies.

There will also be first birthday celebrations to mark the merger between Colchester and Ipswich Hospitals.