UHNM: 'Culture of bullying' uncovered in staff survey

A tenth of staff who responded to a survey said they were "currently suffering from bullying or harassment"

Almost half of the doctors who say they have been bullied or harassed at their NHS trust put it down to their ethnicity, a report says.

The finding is among a raft of staff experiences uncovered by a survey on the issue at the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM).

The survey was distributed across the workforce, with a tenth of those who responded saying they were "currently suffering from bullying or harassment".

The trust said steps were being taken.

More than 3,500 staff, among a workforce of nearly 12,000, took part in the survey carried out by equality charity brap and academic Roger Kline.

Employees at UHNM - which runs Royal Stoke University Hospital - highlighted the poor behaviour among managers, colleagues, patients and visitors.

Among the survey's additional findings were that a fifth of respondents said they felt there was a culture of bullying in their department.

About a quarter of doctors and dentists who responded, and a third of nurses, reported bullying or harassment from patients and visitors in the past two years.

And with regard to such behaviour from the public specifically, two-fifths of doctors and dentists within that figure attributed it to their ethnicity, the report said, citing "occasional requests for a white doctor".

Almost half attributed it to their ethnicity when the pool of perpetrators included other staff.

Medical director Dr Matthew Lewis said the NHS trust would not tolerate any discrimination, bullying or harassment

The report cited the following as examples of flashpoints at the trust:

• Team meetings can at times be hostile due to some "big personalities" who challenge colleagues aggressively

• Workers experiencing racism claim that knowledge and understanding of race equality across the trust is poor, with a key complaint being "micro-aggressions"

• Some senior leaders do not see issues around incivility or rudeness "as particularly important"

• "Festering tensions" exist with some grievances going back years as "managers feel they have resolved issues, but they haven't"

The report's authors said there were "clear hotspots of concern" occurring in areas that included anaesthetics, critical care and theatres.

'Re-humanise'

They have made several recommendations including the suggestion the trust needs a plan to "re-humanise" the organisation.

UHNM said it took the issues raised seriously and had already made changes.

"We will not tolerate any form of discrimination, bullying or harassment within UHNM," medical director Dr Matthew Lewis said.

"[We] will continue to work with brap and Roger Kline to ensure that everyone who works in our hospitals is treated with respect and has the opportunity to develop a fulfilling career."

Steps that have already been taken, the trust said, included appointing a guardian to help whistleblowers.