Staff frightened to speak about NHS trust bullying

A culture of bullying and racial discrimination has been found at a hospital trust, according to an inspection report.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said there was a bullying culture across Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) Trust, with many staff too frightened to speak up. The trust has been told it requires improvement as a result of the report.

NUH said it was working to address the concerns.

The report said a number of the bullying cases were directly attributable to racial discrimination.

It said the trust's latest staff survey showed the organisation was above average for black, Asian and minority ethnic staff experiencing bullying.

Sarah Dunnett, the CQC's head of hospital inspection, said they were told of bullying incidents that had not been addressed.

"We were concerned about the culture of bullying across the trust with many staff being too frightened to speak up," she said.

She said the CQC would "monitor the service closely" to ensure changes were made.

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Source: BBC News, 15 September 2021