MORE than half of staff at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust have felt 'pressure' to work despite feeling unwell.

The figure was revealed in the 2016 NHS Staff Survey which just under 40 percent of Bolton trust employees responded to.

In the results it revealed how 62 percent of staff saying they felt pressured to attend work in the last three months despite feeling ill.

It also showed that 89 percent had reported near misses or errors in the last month and 54 percent had recent experiences of harassment and bullying – an increase of 13 percent compared to 2015.

The trust said the increase was a sign of improved engagement and reporting of incidents.

A spokesman said: "Our place in the top third of all acute and community trusts highlights the commitment we have to staff engagement, and to our ensuring that our staff feel that they are valued and making a difference.

"A higher number of low or no harm incidents indicates a good reporting culture, which we have at the trust. There has been targeted work in this area to ensure that every incident is reported so that lessons can be learnt and patient harm reduced.

"It has been an incredibly challenging time for the NHS as a whole, and service pressures have undoubtedly seen some of our figures slip slightly.

"Staff reporting that feel they have been subjected to unacceptable behaviour in the workplace is something that the trust does not tolerate in any situation. We are dedicated to addressing the concerns raised by our staff, and developing action plans to ensure that any issues brought to light are investigated.

"Staff engagement levels are the highest they’ve been nationally in five years. Our results compare favourably to neighbouring trusts, which shows that in Bolton we pride ourselves on being a place where people enjoy working."

Unions argued that there was an increase in staff feeling demoralised but believed a system unique to the trust where employees could seek help and advice through Unison and the hospital may have resulted in the increase in reporting.

Linda Miller, Unison branch secretary, added: "The link between staff feeling pressure to work despite feeling unwell. According to this - its the staff themself that put themself under pressure to come into work.

"I feel this is due to lack of staff, high sickness rates and don't want to let their colleagues down and need for agency or bank to come in.

"If the staff are feeling pressured they could make mistakes if feeling unwell.

"This has not gone unnoticed in Unison and l think this is a nationwide problem and not just this trust."

The survey also revealed that Bolton had a higher than national average number of staff feeling their role made a difference to patients and staff satisfaction with levels of responsibility and involvement.