The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is deeply concerned by the findings regarding bullying and undermining in the report published yesterday (Thursday 8th) by the General Medical Council (GMC). The report published findings from the first major survey of Specialty, Associate specialist and Specialist (SAS) and Locally Employed (LE) doctors in seven years. The findings show the extent to which SAS and LE doctors experience bullying and undermining in the NHS.
The statistics on surgery are particularly stark. When asked whether they have been the victim of, or witnessed any, bullying or harassment in their role, 36% of SAS cardiothoracic surgeons and 32% of plastic surgeons surveyed said they had and had not reported it compared to 18% of all SAS doctors surveyed. Similarly, when asked if they experience micro-aggressions, negative comments, or oppressive body language from colleagues, 10% of SAS cardiothoracic surgeons surveyed reported daily occurrences compared with the average of 5% of SAS doctor survey respondents.
The statistics are also worse for internationally qualified SAS and LE doctors. The GMC report showed that around half of internationally qualified doctors reported experiencing microaggressions compared with 37% of UK qualified doctors.
It is important and valuable that this specific data on SAS and LE doctors has been gathered by the GMC and there is clearly a significant amount of work to be done to improve the working lives of these doctors. Furthermore, we know that bullying and undermining have a proven detrimental impact on patients as well as staff.
At the RCSEd we will continue to provide our free anti-bullying toolkit and lead the debate on this issue. We expect the highest standards of ethics and professional behaviour in the conduct of our members and fellows. We take any concerns about conduct falling below these standards extremely seriously. Our Code of Conduct - underpinned by our values of inclusivity, integrity, professionalism and respect - provides a clear framework for addressing conduct-related concerns. The College has established procedures for considering tribunal hearings and findings against those standards but cannot comment on individual cases.