A review into culture and bullying at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (March 2022)

Summary

In August 2021, University Hospitals North Midlands Trust (UHNM) commissioned brap and Roger Kline to conduct a review of bullying and harassing behaviours across the Trust. The purpose of the review was to understand:

• the nature of bullying/harassment within the Trust (what types of behaviour are staff being subject to?)
• the basis of bullying/harassment (is poor treatment linked to people’s protected characteristics or other aspects of identity (such as language spoken)
• the scope of bullying behaviour (how frequently are staff subject to bullying behaviours and are they concentrated in particular sites, job roles, or bands? Are staff subject to bullying from patients/visitors or primarily from colleagues?)
• the response to any unprofessional behaviours (do people feel confident reporting or challenging poor behaviour? If not, why?)
• the conditions that allow bullying behaviours to continue (what aspects of organisational culture may be contributing to the persistence of bullying? Are stress, workloads, or poor management practice roots causes?)

The review was prompted by anecdotal claims of inappropriate behaviour within some parts of the Trust. (The Trust has a range of mechanisms to monitor levels of bullying and harassment, including national and local surveys, reports from the Freedom to Speak Up Guardians, Dignity at Work reports, and staff listening events.) In addition, a survey conducted by BAPIO/LNC raised concerns about the treatment of doctors and how this intersected with issues around race. As such, this review sought to explore whether the treatment of Black and minority ethnic (BME) people was different to that of White British staff.