An old problem that keeps re-emerging without a clear solution

Abstract

Bullying and harassment in the workplace is an old problem. According to the charted Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), over the last 20 years, organisations have moved from the perception that it does not happen here to acceptance that it does and the introduction of policies to address the problem. Work place bullying and harassment have been recognised in all sectors of the workforce, particularly in a hospital’s setting.It has been suggested that bullying and harassment in the National Health Services (NHS) is indeed a widespread and serious problem which needs to be viewed in the context of various organisational settings and manifestations. Evidence suggests that the prevalence of bullying and harassment in both medicine and the NHS more generally is high. One of 10 callers to the UK National Bullying advice line are health care professionals, including nurses and GPs; the result of one survey for example found that more than a third of NHS staff had been bullied, harassed and abused, usually by a senior member of the staff, managers or even patients and their relatives.A useful definition of bullying is ‘persistent, offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, abuse of power or unfair panel sanctions, which makes the recipient feel upset, threatened, humiliated or vulnerable, which undermine their self-confidence and which may cause them to suffer stress’.Whilst various types of harassment are covered by UK legalisation, there is currently no specific legalisation dealing directly with the issue of workforce bullying. However, other parts of the law may be applicable. Contract law is one example, as it includes an implied duty on the part of the employer to provide an appropriate and safe working environment for staff. This is even more explicit in the Health and Safety at Work Act, which places a general duty on employers to protect the health, safety and welfare for their employers. Equality legalisation can be applicable in cases concerning gender, race, sexual orientation and recently religion. Age will also be covered as from last December 2006. The Criminal Justice and Public Order and the Protection from Harassment Acts may also be useful in some cases.Foe example, in an unpublished survey from Departments of Histopathology in 9 District General Hospitals and 5 Teaching Hospitals, 47.3% of SpRs had been subjected to different sorts of harassment. Therefore a robust, supportive system for trainees in Histopathology should be easily accessible, confidential and constructive.We think it is important to remind doctors working in the UK of their rights.Doctor's rights in the UK are: Employment rights under law, access to complaints procedures, protection when 'whistle blowing', right to freedom from interference, harassment and unmeritorious complaints and equally important freedom from bullying and harassment in the work place namely: threat to professional status (belittling opinion, public humiliation and accusation of poor effort), threat to personal standing (insults, verbal abuse and teasing by seniors), isolation (denying teaching opportunities and withholding information), overwork and continuous subjection to unnecessary interruption, destabilization for example by failing to give credit, by giving meaningless tasks, removing responsibility and shifting 'goal posts'.This review covers in depth harassment and bullying and discuss in detail anti-harassment and bullying mechanisms.