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Hundreds of doctors have been accused of intimidation and badual harbadment among their colleagues over the last five years, raising concern that a culture of bullying in the NHS is developing.
The data show that cases of bullying and harbadment increased from 420 in 2013-2014 to 585 in 2017-2018. The figures, obtained by the Guardian with the help of a request for access to information, only showed that a fraction of these cases led to a dismissal or to a measure disciplinary.
Leading physicians were troubled by the results, which showed the sheer magnitude of bullying in the NHS. Speaking anonymously, a London surgeon claimed to have been a victim of racism in his work. He said that bullying was rampant in some hospitals.
Experts have put the rise to a number of factors. "The context in which bullying can hurt is chronic staff shortages and systemic pressures, which are a big factor in the busy workplaces that our members talk to us about," said Kim Sunley, National Manager of the Royal College of Medicine. Nursing.
She added: "With 41,000 nurse positions in England alone, a solution to the problem of bullying in health services goes hand-in-hand with the resolution of the crisis of the hand-to-hand. artwork."
Dr. Anthea Mowat, president of the representative body of the British Medical Association, said: "This is further evidence of the extent of bullying in the NHS and it is essential that solutions be put in place immediately to eliminate the behaviors. unacceptable. "
She said the results were very disturbing, the problem not being limited to doctors but to all staff working in the NHS. "Ultimately, this will have consequences for the safety and well-being of patients, because staff members directly victimized or working in a toxic environment will not be able to provide the level of care they are capable of, "she said.
Mowat described the current number of official complaints as "the tip of the iceberg".
A London-based surgeon, speaking on condition of anonymity, spoke about his personal experiences of intimidation. "There were times when I worked and where racist comments were used – it was when I was younger and it happens to me less now that I'm older," he said.
"There is a general culture in which tools are used within the NHS to promote a culture of bullying. Patient safety is mainly used as an umbrella to cover everything. A clbadic example is the problem of understaffing everywhere. This is often used to intimidate junior staff to cover posts in an unsafe manner.
"In my specialty, there were cases where people worked all day and two minutes before they left, they were asked to do the night shift, and in that situation, there are few ways to say no. It puts pressure on people because they do not want to disappoint patients and their service.
"It has gotten worse in the last three to four years. I am not sure if bullying is endemic as an NHS problem, but it is the case in some hospitals. Investigations were held in London in some trusts and it was noted that there was a culture of intimidation. There are some hospitals where it is more common. Racism, for example, is more indirect but remains a problem.
Separate research conducted by the BMA found that one in five physicians had been bullied at work. The report, based on survey responses from 7,887 physicians of all grades in the UK, showed that two out of five (39%) thought that there was a problem in the UK. intimidation, harbadment or breach of their integrity at their place of work.
"The BMA recognizes that it is necessary to dispel the fear of doctors, especially when it comes to other doctors with whom they work and that employers must cultivate transparency and transparency. opening, "said Mowat.
The Guardian's own findings revealed that the Royal Free Hospital in London was the hospital's trust with the most complaints (out of the 70 that responded). There were 160 bullying complaints over a five-year period, with only 51 complaints over the last year.
A spokeswoman for Royal Free London said that bullying was not tolerated and that she was striving to help the 10,000 staff members to "get away with it. express, which has led to an increase in the number of reports.
Two trusts also used nondisclosure agreements, a contract whereby the parties agree not to disclose the information covered by the agreement, to resolve a number of intimidation cases. and harbadment.
Six NDAs – also known as "covenants" – were also distributed by the University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust and the University Hospitals of Derby Foundation and Burton NHS Trust.
Southampton University Hospital stated that the non-disclosure agreements were used with respect to the details of any settlement reached, but they did not prevent individuals from expressing their concerns or questions of concern. public interest.
Dr. Neil Pease, Executive Director of Workforce and Organizational Development at Derby University Hospitals and the NHS Burton Trust Foundation, said: "It happens that the trust and a staff member will want to keep details relating to sensitive employment issues.
The figures also showed that, in a fraction of the cases, the number of incidents resulted in the dismissal of people. For example, in the Royal Free, out of 160 complaints, only one sixth was returned (at least 26 people). In the Leeds-York partnership, 34 complaints were filed and only four were dismissed during the five-year period.
Sara Munro, Executive Director of the Leeds and York Partnership Trust, said that bullying and harbadment were taken very seriously. She added that they aimed to resolve any issue or conflict in the most positive way possible. Formal disciplinary proceedings and dismissals will always be a last resort.
Ralph Fevre, professor of social research at Cardiff School of Social Sciences, said the "appalling situation" of many NHS employees was "compounded by the anger of patients [and their relatives] who get the kind of service that one can expect from an organization at breaking point. "
He added: "The policies and procedures that NHS trusts have written about are often exemplary, but, as the latest figures show, they are for the most part a façade. Take the example of the zero tolerance of violence against NHS staff. Our research showed how many NHS employees [like social care staff] address the risk of violence and injury as part of their job. It is actually a risk to which they may be more exposed than the police. "
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