NHS board apologises over incidents of bullying
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
THE entire board of NHS Highland has formally apologised for "incidences of bullying", after the chairman himself said sorry.
The apology came ats part of a paper discussed by board members on Tuesday which also set out the findings of an independent HR review carried out in the wake of the bullying allegations which were first raised in September.
While it appeared to bolster previous assertions by NHS Highland leaders that it does not recognise a systemic culture of bullying within the organisation it also recommended changes to improve understanding of bullying within the organisation and provide better support for both staff and managers.
Earlier this month board chairman David Alston said the organisation was "really sorry that there have been some incidents of bullying".
The paper called on the board to acknowledge there have been incidences of bullying as well as to apologise "to anyone who has experienced bullying, past or present."
In what could be seen as a blow to campaigners, however, the HR review failed to find any evidence to support claims of a deep-rooted culture of bullying.
Carried out by independent consultant Sandy Gallanders he reviewed a variety of local and national staff feedback data which he said suggests incidents of bullying in NHS Highland are largely in line with the national picture.
Assessing outcomes from one survey he said: "There are no 'red flags' which would suggest the presence of systemic bullying and/ or harassment."
A separate Dignity at Work survey also suggested a broad correlation between local and national experiences, with 10 per cent of Highland respondents claiming to have been bullied or harassed by their manager in the past year, compared to nine per cent nationally.
Mr Gallanders said: "It is difficult to clearly define an experience that is shaped by individual perceptions and it is challenging to measure it.
"However the NHS Highland report appears to show no great divergence from other NHS organisations in Scotland."
The GMB’s NHS lead, Gavin Smith, said the surveys cited fail to give an accurate picture of experiences on the ground.
"Most of the statistics come from iMatters which has a notoriously low staff response rate, so their numbers are skewed from the start," he said.
“The survey is done electronically and the questions do not allow you to report, for example, incidents of bullying by saying there is a management issue, so it is skewed in that way too.”
Among a range of suggested short, medium and long-term changes to NHS Highland policies and practices Mr Gallanders recommends establishing new focus groups to give staff a more direct voice; provision of confidential staff surgeries or drop-in sessions; and more training for senior management, to cover topics including managing conflict and mediation skills.
