GMB Union losing patience over NHS Highland bullying
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NHS Highland has been accused of a “scandalous” record of failing to keep tabs on incidents of bullying as unions lose patience with the crisis-hit health board.
Freedom of Information (FOI) requests by the Inverness Courier and the GMB Union show a sorry pattern of what has been described as “smoke and mirrors” on the issue.
The Courier’s FOI revealed that the health board does not register bullying as a reason for disciplinary proceedings, making it difficult to track the volume of incidents.
And the GMB’s FOI showed NHS Highland does not hold data on the number of cases where bullying has been alleged.
The health board stated that there were “no specifics for the period” and there were only 24 cases of disciplinary action, of which 10 were ongoing and the remaining 14 were closed, with no action taken.
It comes as health minister Jeane Freeman is set to be given a face-to-face update on how the board is handling the bullying crisis, which was exposed by whistle-blowers in 2018.
The GMB’s NHS lead, Gavin Smith, said: “This is scandalous. NHS Highland is unable to provide basic information about staff bullying. What message does that send to staff?
“No specific information available for three years? Yet somehow they produce a figure of 24 cases over a three-year period? This is incredible for an organisation that employs over 10,000 people.
“Over 150 people came forward to the GMB during the bullying campaign. Who are NHS Highland trying to kid with these figures?
“In a way, this is a game of smoke and mirrors. How can you pretend to deal with a problem like bullying without recording how many people have been bullied? You can’t, that is why we and our members are losing patience.
“Can they evidence any positive change since the Sturrock report [an independent report into the claims which was published in May 2019] came out? Staff deserve better.”
A spokesman for NHS Highland said it was not easy to categorise disciplinary cases in terms of bullying using the current system it operates.
“Allegations of bullying or inappropriate behaviour are treated very seriously by NHS Highland and we are committed to robustly addressing each and every case which is raised,” he added.
“Each case needs to be reviewed and managed based on the specific details provided. We review all ongoing and past cases.”
He said nationally, changes were about to be launched with new policies and processes linked to bullying, disciplinary and grievances.
“We will be putting in place more robust tracking and monitoring and discussion of cases, as well as improving the length of time it can take to conclude cases and to promote the timely use of informal processes and mediation to resolve issues early,” he added.
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