Bullying in the NHS

The public inquiry into deaths at Stafford Hospital by Robert Francis QC, published in February 2013, found that a chronic shortage of staff, particularly nursing staff, was largely responsible for the substandard care. Staff who spoke out felt ignored and public services union UNISON said that there was strong evidence that many were deterred from doing so through fear and bullying.

Also in 2013, the Royal College of Nursing’s Beyond breaking point report said that around a fifth of respondents stated that they had experienced bullying from either a manager (23%) or colleague (21%).

The NHS staff survey is an annual survey based on 255,000 responses from staff, including doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants, ambulance workers and non-clinical employees. The results of the 2014 survey were published in February 2015 and show that bullying in the NHS remains a major problem. Although fewer staff experienced harassment, bullying or abuse from patients, their relatives or the public — down from 29% in 2013 to 28% in 2014 — almost a quarter (24%) of staff said that they experienced harassment, bullying or abuse from their manager or other colleagues — up from 23% in 2013.

Each year the General Medical Council’s national training survey asks doctors in training if they have experienced bullying or undermining in their workplace. Its most recently published survey (2014) found 8% of respondents reported that they had experienced bullying, and nearly 14% reported witnessing bullying. It also commented: “Evidence suggests there is a reluctance to speak out about bullying and undermining — both from fear of reprisals and from lack of faith that anything will be done.”

Delegates at the 2015 Society of Radiographers (SoR) annual conference voted for further investigations into the extent of bullying within NHS trusts, particularly in relation to those on student placements. In 2014, the union’s Stamp Out Bullying campaign called on radiography managers to sign up to four basic principles to prevent bullying occurring in their departments. These are to:

• agree that bullying, harassment or intimidating behaviour is unacceptable in my workplace;

• uphold respect and dignity for all my colleagues, associates and students;

• assist anyone who is a victim, in accordance with their wishes; and

• strive to eradicate such behaviour from my workplace.

Fifty managers had signed up by the end of May 2015.

In April 2015, public services union UNISON published the results of a survey of stress among ambulance staff. Based on responses from almost 3,000 ambulance workers, it reported that long hours, staff shortages and the mental demands of the job were creating an enormous burden with nine in 10 (91%) saying they were suffering with stress. Bullying and harassment was a factor in a quarter of cases.