Staff at the Whittington Hospital complain of too much work and have little faith in senior management, a survey has found.

Hospital bosses also lack a “clear vision for the future” and fail to put patients at the heart of what they do.

A total of 1,626 staff completed an external survey commissioned by the Trust between November and January.

Hours

Overall, 60 per cent of staff answered positively, but many of the individual results fell well below external benchmarks.

Half said there were not enough staff to get work done and 44pc said they could not meet the requirements of their job without putting in excessive hours.

Only 42pc of staff felt that senior managers were open and honest, and 44pc believed that those in charge had a clear vision for the future of the hospital.

The survey, which cost £37,140, was carried out by market research group ORC International.

The results were published in a report by the company last week which stated that there was “much work to do to fully engage staff”.

Just over half of staff said the hospital acted on the feedback it received from patients, while 46pc were unsure whether the Whittington was doing a good job at prioritising services.

Staff who felt proud to work at the Whittington and would recommend it as a place to work also fell below the external benchmark.

However, more than three- quarters of staff felt their job made good use of their skills which the report described as a “key area of strength”.

The survey follows a tumultuous two years for the hospital in Magdala Avenue, Archway.

In January last year, the Trust announced plans to sell off some of its buildings and cut staff numbers. Both proposals were reversed following a public backlash.

More recently, the hospital announced the shock resignation of chief executive, Dr Yi Mien Koh.

The report concluded: “There is scepticism of the direction of Whittington with a lack of belief that the senior management team has a clear vision for the future.”

Chief executive, Simon Pleydell, said: “We welcome these findings which show some positive outcomes, in particular around staff commitment to patients and feeling that their contribution makes a difference.

“We recognise that we need to do more and it’s important that we learn and act upon the information in these reports. We are now taking immediate steps to review the results and look at how we can fully address the areas of concern.

“We are fully committed to acting on this valuable feedback and will demonstrate to staff over the next year how it is being used and the difference it is making.”