Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Bullying'.
Found 245 results
-
News Article
Former surgeon wants NHS MeToo movement for sexual harassment
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A former breast cancer surgeon has said the NHS needs a MeToo movement because of sexual harassment in hospitals. Dr Liz O'Riordan said she experienced sexual harassment from colleagues on a weekly to monthly basis in some of her jobs as a junior doctor. In her first week as a junior doctor, she recalled a colleague asking if she "got an erection" after removing an 11-year-old boy's appendix. "We need to be able to say this is not good enough," said Dr O'Riordan. "When you are a trainee in a practical field, you are relying on your boss to let you operate to show you how to cut; it is a craft that you learn." "Basically you are naked in scrubs stood from shoulder, to hip, to knee, next to someone all squeezed in; a lot of body contact; you are relying on them to let you cut, and if you call them out they may say 'I don't like you, you are not coming to theatre today'. "It's very, very, very hard to stand up for yourself and say 'that is not on' and the minute you let them get away with it, it is accepted and they can carry on getting away with it." Read full story Source: BBC News, 12 July 2023 Related reading on the hub: Under the knife: Life Lessons from the operating theatre by Liz O’Riordan Calling out the sexist and misogynist culture within healthcare: a blog by Dr Chelcie Jewitt, co-founder of the Surviving in Scrubs campaign -
News ArticleAn inspection of an ‘outstanding’ hospital has revealed concerns about unsafe staffing, as well as bullying and undermining behaviour. The then Health Education England issued Frimley Health Foundation Trust 14 mandatory requirements after visiting its Frimley Park Hospital in March to look at training in medical specialties. The risk-based review followed concerns in the 2022 national training survey and previous quality interventions by HEE. Among the problems HEE was told about were: Junior doctors feeling staffing on some shifts was unsafe. Foundation year one doctors were sometimes the only doctors on a ward, while one foundation doctor spent their first weekend on call looking after two wards by themselves. Concerns about bullying and undermining behaviour in an unnamed department, and consultant behaviour during weekend handover which left some staff feeling “uncomfortable”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 11 July 2023
-
News Article
‘Misogyny’ and ‘medical patriarchy’ widespread at major trust, reports find
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A major teaching trust is dominated by a “medical patriarchy”, while “misogynistic behaviour” is a regular occurrence, two investigations have discovered. Two reports into University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust have been published. They are the outcome of an investigation into the trust’s leadership carried out by NHS England, and an oversight review by former NHSE deputy medical director Mike Bewick. They follow major concerns being raised over recent months about safety, culture, and leadership at the trust. The NHSE review said the trust “could do more to balance the medical patriarchy that dominates” the organisation. It noted consultants are invited to observe a chief executive’s advisory group meeting, but nursing, midwifery and allied health professional leaders are not.” On culture, NHSE said the trust should take steps to ensure staff can work in psychologically safe environments where “poor behaviours are consistently addressed” and to “eradicate bullying and cronyism at all levels of the organisation”. Staff had described “inequity and cronyism” being a feature of recruitment processes at all levels. Read full story (paywalled) -
News Article
Trust leadership rated ‘inadequate’ as CQC accuses staff of ‘ignoring’ problems
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
An acute trust’s leadership has been downgraded to ‘inadequate’ after some staff ignored concerns raised directly by CQC inspectors, while others said bullying was ‘rife’. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found multiple reports of staff raising concerns at York and Scarborough Foundation Trust, but that staff felt they were “ignored”, dismissed or “swept under the carpet”. The trust’s leadership has been rated as “inadequate”, down from “requires improvement”, although its overall rating remains “requires improvement”. The CQC said “poor leadership was having an impact across all of the services” and there were occasions “where leaders displayed defensiveness or appeared to tolerate poor behaviours from staff.” The trust said it had been under “sustained pressure” but had already begun to make improvements, including a new information system in maternity services and a review of nursing establishment numbers. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 30 June 2023 -
News Article
Trust 'hiding serious harm and death' report
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
There was a fair bit of press coverage last week about an employment tribunal case against the Care Quality Commission – in which the regulator was found to have sacked an inspector for making a series of whistleblowing disclosures. However, many of the key details were either skirted over, or missed altogether, in the coverage. The disclosures made by Shyam Kumar related not just to his role as a special adviser for the CQC, but also to his full-time employer, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay FT, and to understand the case fully, they need to be separated out. The important context (also skirted over) was that Dr Kumar had raised a series of legitimate concerns about another orthopaedic surgeon at UHMB, both internally within the trust, and externally with the CQC, in 2018. This caused major tensions within UHMB, to the extent that Dr Kumar started to be targeted for criticism by a different surgeon, being labelled a ‘traitor’ to Indian doctors in a group email. When challenged by Dr Kumar, the colleague complained to the CQC that Dr Kumar had sought to threaten and intimidate him, along with other accusations. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 12 September 2022 -
News ArticleInternal documents show significant evidence of bullying and discrimination within NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) which dates back at least eight years, when the organisation was led by the current chief executive of the Care Quality Commission. HSJ has seen a report which detailed major tensions and dysfunction at NHSBT’s Colindale site in north London in 2016, four years before another report found similar problems. Given the damning findings of the second report, in 2020 – which found a “toxic environment”, multiple accounts of bullying, and “systemic racism” at the same site – it raises questions around the actions taken by NHSBT’s former leaders, including current CQC boss Ian Trenholm, to address the issues raised in the 2016 report. The 2016 report was commissioned by the manufacturing directorate and concluded the hospital services department at the Colindale site was “dysfunctional” after a highly contentious reorganisation of some services and teams. It noted “a series of bullying and harassment incidents” were being reported, but which staff felt were not investigated appropriately, and claims of “discriminatory practice” by managers. Read full story Source: HSJ, 26 August 2022
-
News Article
Lack of ‘psychological safety’ at trust with ‘acceptance of poor behaviours’
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
An acute trust has “palpable” cultural problems and staff “at all levels” have described an acceptance of “poor behaviours”, according to the Care Quality Commission. Some staff at Gloucestershire Hospitals Foundation Trust also reported a lack of trust in their senior managers and a “fear of speaking up”. The Care Quality Commission feedback was set out in a post-inspection letter to the trust’s acting chief executive Mark Pietroni last month following an inspection in June. The trust’s CEO Deborah Lee is currently off work as she recovers from a stroke. According to the CQC letter, published in the trust’s board papers ahead of a full inspection report which is due in the autumn, staff “articulated [to inspectors and said they] had observed rudeness and incivility throughout the organisation”. In a written statement, Professor Pietroni told HSJ he “fully recognised” the CQC’s feedback. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ (24 August 2022) -
News Article
Fresh allegations of whistleblower mismanagement at ‘witch hunt’ trust
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Fresh concerns have been raised about the treatment of whistleblowers by managers at a trust recently embroiled in a high-profile bullying scandal, the hospital’s workforce director has disclosed. A series of further accusations have been made against managers at West Suffolk Foundation Trust, where executives were recently judged to have led an “intimidating, flawed” hunt for a whistleblower, prompting a series of high-profile departures. The trust’s executive director for workforce detailed in a paper for the hospital’s July board meeting how managers had been hunting to identify staff who had raised concerns through supposedly confidential channels. The report, by executive director of workforce and communications, Jeremy Over, said: “Feedback has been given indicating that some people have had a poor experience when speaking up. “In two separate cases, where people spoke up in confidence, it was reported that the managers were then asking and wishing to find out who had spoken up making the individuals very uncomfortable. “Another case reported that the individual was ‘told off’ by their manager for ‘going about their heads’ [sic] and another where staff felt discouraged from raising any points or suggestions as these were taken [as] a personal offence [by] the senior staff. In a further case, the person speaking up was criticised [for] doing so.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 3 August 2022 -
News Article
CQC probes bullying allegations at national NHS agency
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Bullying and harassment allegations made against leaders of the organisation that supplies blood to the NHS have prompted a Care Quality Commission (CQC) review, with staff claiming poor culture has exacerbated the crisis around low blood stocks. HSJ has learned whistleblowers at NHS Blood and Transplant raised concerns with the CQC. As a result, the regulator has been carrying out a review of the organisation’s leadership. Several current and former staff, who wished to remain anonymous, told HSJ there are widespread concerns about the organisation’s culture, which they claim has enabled bullying and harassment from senior employees, including some racist behaviours. They said the culture has resulted in a significant number of staff being absent due to stress and anxiety, which alongside the latest wave of coronavirus, has contributed to an ongoing staffing crisis. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 28 July 2022 -
News Article
‘Arrogance and bullying’ persist from ‘less understanding’ regulators, say trusts
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS England and the Care Quality Commission are becoming less understanding of the pressures on trusts, their leaders report, with one CEO complaining “the arrogance and bullying continues to get worse”. This is the finding of a new survey of trust chiefs, chairs and directors by NHS Providers, shared with HSJ and published in a new report on regulation today. It found two-thirds of trust leaders felt NHSE had a good understanding of “the pressures that NHS providers are facing” — down from 74% cent in a similar NHSP regulation survey in 2019, and 75% in 2018. NHSP found: “Leaders from the acute sector were much more likely to say regulators understood the pressure they were under than those from the mental health or community sectors.” One combined acute/community CEO said: “Not only have the number of requests increased but now they are coming from multiple levels, [integrated care system], regional and national.” Meanwhile, most respondents welcomed regulators’ proposed changes to their approach – for example, by the CQC to a “risk based” approach, and NHSE towards collaboration – but many indicated they did not feel these were being put into practice. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 26 July 2022 -
News Article
Surgeon branded bully faces review after patient, 17, dies
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Catherine O’Connor, who was born with spina bifida and used a wheelchair all her life, was looking forward to the surgery to fix her twisted spine. Tragically, after a catastrophic loss of blood, she died on the operating table at Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester. She died in February 2007 but only now has an NHS-commissioned report concluded the “unacceptable and unjustifiable” actions of her surgeon, John Bradley Williamson, “directly contributed” to her death. Williamson pressed on with the surgery despite being explicitly told he needed a second consultant surgeon. Her case is one of more than a hundred of Williamson’s being reviewed by Salford Royal Hospital amid allegations by whistleblowers of a cover-up by managers and a “toxic culture” within his surgery team. An internal list produced by concerned clinicians as long ago as 2014 describes some of Williamson’s patients being left paralysed or in severe pain as a result of misplaced spinal screws and others being rushed back to theatre for life-saving surgery. Separately, leaked minutes of a meeting between staff and the hospital’s new chief executive in December 2021 described a “snapshot” of five of Williamson’s patients which “clearly identified significant areas of clinical care, avoidable harm and avoidable death”. They added: “Concerns around Mr Williamson continue to be raised and remain unaddressed.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 17 July 2022 -
News Article
Female doctors launch campaign against harassment in UK healthcare
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Female doctors have launched an online campaign that they say exposes shocking gender-based discrimination, harassment and sexual assault in healthcare. Surviving in Scrubs is an issue for all healthcare workers, say the campaign’s founders, Becky Cox and Chelcie Jewitt, who are encouraging women to share stories of harassment and abuse to “push for change and to reach the people in power”. The campaign has called for the General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates doctors, to explicitly denounce sexist and misogynistic behaviour towards female colleagues and “treat them with respect”. More than 40 stories have been shared on the campaign’s website, ranging from sexual harassment by patients to inappropriate remarks and sexual advances from supervisors. The campaign is bolstered by evidence that shows 91% of female respondents had experienced sexism at work within the past two years. The findings are a result of nearly 2,500 surveyed doctors working in the NHS – the majority of whom were women – published in a 2021 report by the British Medical Association (BMA). Read full story Source: The Guardian, 11 July 2022 -
News Article
Bullying and harassment ‘normalised’ at trust put back in special measures
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
An ambulance trust has been placed in special measures after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated its leadership ‘inadequate’ and said staff felt unable to raise concerns without fear of reprisal The CQC inspected South East Coast Ambulance Service Foundation Trust after being contacted by staff with concerns about bullying and harassment, inappropriate sexualised behaviour and a leadership team which failed to address concerns. Many of the concerns echo those raised in 2017 in an independent review into a “culture of fear” at the trust, shortly after it was first placed in regulatory special measures. It was taken out in 2019 but has now been placed back in the equivalent “recovery support programme” on the CQC’s recommendation. CQC director of integrated care Amanda Williams praised staff who had contacted the regulator. She said: “While staff were doing their very best to provide safe care to patients, leaders often appeared out of touch with what was happening on the front line and weren’t always aware of the challenges staff faced. Staff described feeling unable to raise concerns without fear of reprisal – and when concerns were raised, these were not acted on. “This meant that some negative aspects of the organisational culture, including bullying and harassment and inappropriate sexualised behaviour, were not addressed and became normalised behaviours." Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 22 June 2022 -
News ArticleA review into the culture at Birmingham's biggest hospitals trust amid allegations of bullying and undue pressure on staff has found 'substantial issues' of concern, a brief report has revealed. A short briefing for councillors by NHS Birmingham and Solihull chief executive David Melborne offers the first insight into the findings of Professor Mike Bewick and his review team who were tasked with investigating damning allegations made by current and former staff at University Hospitals Birmingham. More than 50 medics, including some with decades of experience, came forward to criticise a 'toxic' working culture at the trust, many sharing their experiences with MP Preet Kaur Gill (Birmingham Edgbaston). Among the most serious claims that emerged were that whistleblowers concerned about patient safety were silenced with threats of disciplinary action. In a written report to Birmingham and Solihull councils' joint health overview and scrutiny committee, meeting Monday, Mr Melborne says the rapid review into the Newsnight allegations and subsequent complaints has found 'no fundamental safety issues at the Trust'. However, he goes on: "That said, there are substantial issues around culture, behaviour, leadership and governance that will need to be addressed". Read full story Source: Birmingham Live, 10 March 2023
-
News Article
‘Toxic working environment’ exposed at troubled unit
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Staff endured a “toxic and difficult working environment” at a maternity unit an employment tribunal has found. The tribunal panel said that the case of a black midwife, Kemi Akinmaji, who partially won her case against East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust for racial discrimination showed “there were wider issues beyond the specific allegations before us and which were possibly related to race”. The tribunal judgment said: “The evidence we heard reflected a toxic and difficult working environment generally where the claimant and colleagues were shouted and sworn at over differences of professional opinion. There was some evidence before us that there were wider issues beyond the specific allegations before us and which were possibly related to race… “There is evidence of wider bullying of the claimant in the way the group of colleagues treated the claimant… We’ve also heard that the previous grievance had highlighted risks in respect of unconscious bias and identified recommendations which were not actioned. “The race champion was not appointed and the unconscious bias training not sufficiently followed through. We also heard evidence of staff being wary of further such complaints. These matters were all concerning but we had to limit ourselves to the specific allegations brought by the claimant and which the respondent had been given an opportunity to address.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 1 March 2023 -
News ArticleNHS Ambulance service have a “fear of speaking up” amid pervasive “cliquey”, sexist, racist and homophobic cultures, a watchdog has warned. A national guardian has warned of negative cultures in trusts preventing workers from raising concerns as she called for a “cultural review” of ambulance organisations. The review into whistleblower concerns, by the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian’s office, has found widespread cultural issues including clique-like behaviour and bullying and harassment. Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark, the NHS National Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, has now called on ministers and the NHS to independently review ambulance services, after speaking with ambulance staff across five NHS trusts. The report has called for a cultural review of the ambulance service by NHS England, the Care Quality Commission, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives and ministers. Read full story Source: The Independent, 24 February 2023
-
News Article
Derby maternity deaths may have been prevented
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Three women who died under the care of a hospital's maternity unit may have survived if earlier recommendations had been implemented, a report has said. The cases occurred at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton (UHDB) NHS Foundation Trust over 16 months. A review by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) also found a culture of intimidation and bullying. The report found that although there was no common theme to the deaths - and four other life-threatening cases that occurred in the same period - processes and leadership had been inconsistent and fragmented. HSIB said "robust action planning and prompt addressing of the learning" from previous recommendations from other investigations "may have had an impact on the outcome for the women who received care during the seven events included in this thematic review". Read full story Source: BBC News, 22 February 2023 -
News Article
One in three Black and minority ethnic staff face discrimination or bullying
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A third of Black and ethnic minority health staff have suffered racism or bullying as the NHS fails to address “systemic” levels of discrimination, The Independent can reveal. Levels of bullying and harassment of minority workers have not improved in the past five years with almost 30% saying they have been targeted in the past year, compared to 20%of white staff. Despite being one-quarter of the workforce, minority ethnic staff make up just 10% of the most senior positions, the NHS’s flagship report is set to reveal. One nurse told The Independent she was forced to leave her job following a campaign of bullying, while another, who has left for the private sector, said her mental health was hugely impacted by the discrimination she experienced. Another nurse said she was left “traumatised” by bullying and harassment and she was “gaslighted” by her employer. “This incident is going to affect me for the rest of my life … when I first joined [the NHS trust] I thought I was going to retire there but ... my career [has been cut] short and it’s not fair,” she said. Equality for Black Nurses, a membership organisation founded by Neomi Bennett in 2020, has launched 200 cases of alleged racism against a number of NHS trusts since it was set up. “Racism is driving nurses out of the NHS,” Ms Bennett, told The Independent, warning that this issue had reached “pandemic levels”. Read full story Source: The Independent, 24 January 2023 -
News ArticleConsultants who blew the whistle at a major teaching trust have raised “grave concerns” about the impartiality of three reviews into the safety and bullying allegations they made. Last month, Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board announced three investigations into University Hospitals Birmingham, following worries about bullying and poor workplace culture. Former trust consultants Manos Nikolousis, John Watkinson and Tristan Reuser have now written to the cross-party reference group holding the investigations to account. Their letter, seen by HSJ, outlines their concerns about potential conflicts of interest. The first investigation is reviewing the trusts’ handling of 12 never events, staff deaths including a recent suicide, and 26 GMC referrals. It is being run by former NHS England deputy medical director Mike Bewick and may report as early as next week. The second and third reveiws will assess trust leadership and broader cultural issues respectively, and will be carried out with UHB and NHSE. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 18 January 2023
-
News Article
Fresh review into ‘doctors being bullied with regulatory referrals’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Investigators have begun a further review of how a major trust handles disciplinary and professional standards cases, including allegations leaders had targeted some doctors with referrals to the medical regulator, HSJ has learned. The claims were part of a raft of concerns raised about University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust over recent months, including BBC Newsnight reporting that a large number of General Medical Council referrals had led to no action; and claims of whistleblowing doctors “being bullied… by the threat of referrals to the GMC”. One external review of UHB, whose report was published in March, already examined the issue, and said it had identified 17 cases which contradicted Newsnight’s claim, with two referrals resulting in criminal conviction and removal from the medical register. It said there was “nothing exceptional” about the referral numbers or types at UHB, or their outcomes, but also noted that medical staff told the review about “dysfunctional processes for maintaining higher professional standards”, and “expressed a perception that there was a rather rapid process to escalate to a GMC referral”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 June 2023 -
News Article
My surgeon experimented on me and ruined my life
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Leann Sutherland was 21 and suffering from chronic migraines when one of Scotland's top surgeons offered to operate. She was told she would be in hospital for a few days and had a 60% chance of improvement. Instead she was in for months while Sam Eljamel operated on her seven times. "He had free rein on my body. He was playing god with my body and the NHS handed him the scalpel, seven times," says Leann. When Leann tried to raise concerns with staff she was told that Mr Eljamel had saved her life. She was not told that he was under investigation, nor that he had been later forced to step down. It was only after seeing recent BBC coverage she realised she was not alone. The BBC can reveal her surgeon - the former head of neurosurgery at NHS Tayside - was harming patients and putting them at risk for years but the health board let him carry on regardless. BBC Scotland has spoken to three surgeons who worked under Mr Eljamel at Tayside. All three said he was a bully who was allowed to get away with harming patients. All three said there was a lack of accountability in the department and that Mr Eljamel was allowed to behave as if he were a "god" - partly because of the research funding he brought to the department. Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 June 2023 -
News Article
Whistleblowing surgeon quits profession over fear of being “hunted” by NHS
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A campaigning whistleblowing surgeon who wrote two books about his experiences has decided to leave the medical profession out of fear that he is being “hunted” by the NHS. Peter Duffy, a consultant urologist, is quitting work several years earlier than planned and intends to remove his name from the medical register. After a two year investigation the General Medical Council has decided to take no action against him. But he told The BMJ that he is worried that, after several investigations into his conduct, he remains vulnerable as long as he stays on the register. Duffy, 61, who blew the whistle on patient safety issues at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust’s urology department, left the NHS nearly seven years ago. He claimed he was forced to resign from the trust for his own protection and won a claim for unfair constructive dismissal in 2018, when the trust was ordered to pay him £102 000 in compensation. Read full story (paywalled) Source: BMJ, 12 June 2023 -
News Article
‘Devastated’ director quits after ‘bullying’ row with consultants
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A trust director has stepped down after a row with consultants about the leadership culture within her department, HSJ has learned. Pratima Gupta quit as director of women’s services at University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust last week after a group of consultants expressed “no confidence” in her leadership. They claimed there was “intimidating and bullying behaviour” by individual managers. However, Ms Gupta said the allegations are untrue, and said she has faced “obstruction at almost every step” from some consultants when trying to improve training and culture within the department. Trainee doctors in obstetrics and gynaecology have previously expressed concerns around a lack of support from consultants, with the trust recently receiving a further warning around this from the General Medical Council and Health Education England. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 1 June 2023 -
News Article
Trust execs accused of creating a ‘cult of the individual’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Regulators are probing a series of whistleblowing claims about the leadership culture of a trust which is rated ‘outstanding’ for its management, HSJ has learned. It is understood multiple current and former staff members at Bolton Foundation Trust, including people in senior positions, have been in contact with NHS England and the Care Quality Commission in recent months. The claims include a dramatic worsening in leadership culture at the trust, particularly around the FTSU process and people who speak up being bullied, side-lined and silenced. And investigations and meetings are stage-managed and tightly controlled by executives, with constant “sugar-coating” and positive spin on board reports, and intolerance of people who disagree. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 22 May 2023 -
News Article
Allegations of bullying within maternity programme of HSIB
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
It was created with the very best of intentions – to help hospitals learn lessons when a baby or mother is harmed or dies. But a Channel 4 News investigation has been hearing that the maternity programme of the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch – or HSIB – was riddled with flaws. One former senior staff member spoke to Channel 4 about bullying within the organisation and failings which could have led to harm. In a previous report, Channel 4 heard from the mothers of Beatrice and Marnie, who were stillborn and other parents have come forward with their experience. Watch the story Source: Channel 4 News, 16 May 2023
