LONGER READ: NHS bullying ‘still going on’
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On the anniversary of the whistle-blowers’ letter which exposed bullying at NHS Highland to public scrutiny, union rep Gavin Smith and former employee Brian Devlin are sceptical about whether much has changed
A YEAR to the day since four clinician whistle-blowers signed a letter that alerted the public to bullying at NHS Highland, those at the centre of much of the action since claim the problem is continuing unabated.
Last week, the Courier spoke to the whistle-blowers Dr Eileen Anderson, Dr Lorien Cameron-Ross, Dr Iain Kennedy and Dr Jonathan Ball about the impact the crisis has had on them personally.
Now the GMB union’s NHS lead Gavin Smith has spoken about the “harrowing” experience of dealing with bullying victims while Brian Devlin, media manager for the whistle-blowers, claims his own personal experience of bullying led to him contemplating suicide.
It was last July that the GMB issued a press release accusing NHS Highland of harbouring “endemic bullying”, dismissed by then chairman David Alston as “gossip.”
Mr Smith said their decision to speak out came off the back of a review of corporate governance at NHS Highland which concentrated largely on financial management.
“We thought it was important that we go to the press to highlight that it wasn’t just a financial issue, it was a staff governance issue as well,” he said.
“And the basis of that was the feedback we got from our members across the Highlands, in lots of different jobs.
“A consistent picture was emerging – a picture of bullying issues not being addressed in a consistent way.
“We had members coming to us with particular issues that helped us build up a picture of what was going on, just through the volume of people that came in and the kinds of issues they came in with.
“There were a large number of cases that were resolved in a way you wouldn’t expect them to be resolved and it became quite clear there was an issue with how bullying was investigated, how it was handled, and how the process worked – the end result being that many people felt the issues weren’t being resolved properly.”
Despite the union having made the first public noises about bullying as an issue in NHS Highland it was the publication of the whistle-blowers’ letter that proved to be the real game-changer in the whole affair as the four doctors aired their own concerns, having felt they were getting nowhere in trying to have the issue dealt with internally.
“More than anything I admired their bravery,” Mr Smith said of his reaction to the move.
“A trade union can say things that employees sometimes can’t and it is very brave for employees individually to go on the record. I wasn’t surprised by what they wrote but I was grateful that it was in the public domain, because it was entirely consistent with what we had found for a long, long time.”
As those claiming to be victims of bullying began to come forward in droves Mr Smith had the unenviable job of interviewing many of them about their experiences.
“I did the vast amount of interviews and I have used the word ‘harrowing’ in the past and that is true.
“It was awful – a large number of people came in whose lives have been totally destroyed.
“On an emotional level I felt sorry for these people but I also felt very angry on their behalf because people were treated very badly.”
Among those claiming to have suffered is NHS Highland’s former communication manager Mr Devlin who was later approached to handle the media for the whistle-blowers.
The campaign was the most “important, exciting, and valuable” professional experience of his life, he said.
“I had a lot of free time on my hands and I was approached by the whistle-blowers because they were aware of my reputation as the former head of press for NHS Highland,” he said.
“When they approached me to see whether or not I would be able to help them I thought about it very seriously, because for me it comes down to ethical behaviour as much as anything else.
“What I saw very quickly was a group of people who were operating to the very highest ethical standards, so I was more than happy to put my skills and experience at their full disposal.”
He claimed: “I was very badly bullied at NHS Highland towards the end of my career.
“I was recognised by the media and by my peers as being very good at my job but then something changed and my skills and experience were being unpicked in what was typical bullying behaviour.”
The impact was stark, he said.
“I would walk the 20 yards from my house to my car to get in to go to work and would have to come back to change my shirt because it was drenched with sweat. That was all to do with anxiety about what I was going to be facing.
“I would get phone calls in the evening, screaming at me, phones slammed down, that sort of stuff.
“After a long period of time, trying to work through these things, asking for it to stop and it not stopping, I became very, very ill.”
He said he contemplated suicide and eventually retired from NHS Highland on the grounds of ill-health.
The independent review into bullying at NHS Highland by John Sturrock QC was published in May this year, with at least 180 people having come forward to share their experiences as staff members with him.
What, if anything, has changed since then?
Not a lot according to both Mr Smith and Mr Devlin.
Mr Smith said that his bullying caseload has not lightened since the Sturrock report.
“On a practical level, in terms of case work, things haven’t improved at all, he said. “And I will go on record as saying some things have actually got worse because of the length of time cases take and the lack of clarity around how situations are handled.
“That is not to say there won’t be improvements, but to date the organisation hasn’t shown itself capable of demonstrating what has changed.
“In terms of how bullying is investigated, how quickly it is investigated, and how transparently it is done – no, there has been no improvement. Bullying is absolutely still going on.”
Mr Devlin said: “We are one year on from the whistle-blowers’ letter. The two key things they asked for was support for victims and restitution and we are not seeing any of that. If in a truth and reconciliation process you miss out the truth bit and jump too far ahead to reconciliation then you have missed a fundamental step. It is outrageous that we are still talking about it.”
An NHS Highland spokesman said: “NHS Highland is working hard to implement a culture where everyone across the organisation feels valued, respected and listened to.
“This is a top priority for the organisation and a number of changes have already been made to ensure that the board is able to more effectively respond to the needs of NHS Highland in the future and especially to enable it to fully deal with the proposals contained within the Sturrock Report.”
Meeting today, the NHS Highland board will hear about progress made with staff engagement including sessions planned for Raigmore Hospital.
HR director Fiona Hogg said: “A lot of useful information is being shared covering issues and experiences such as management, our communications, where our processes are frustrating and how it feels to work in NHS Highland.”
