Fact
File 
The
cost of bullying to the NHS
Bullying
and harassment cost the NHS more than £325 million a year,
money the Department of Health (DoH) admits could have been
spent on healthcare. A report commissioned by the Department
of Health describes the cost of bullying as 'immense'. It
concludes that although there are many individuals committed
to driving the equality agenda across the health service,
discrimination is still widespread.
The document was compiled in March 2005 and was obtained
by the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act.
The
request was " 'Please disclose copies of all unpublished
material relating to bullying of staff within the NHS. This
should include but is not limited to copies of any reports
and analyses into the extent of bulling in the NHS. Please
search for this information since 1 January 2003 to the
date you answer this request.'
Response
from the Department of Health.
The
Department carried out a detailed trawl of information and
identified a report entitled 'The Business Strategy for
Equality and Human Rights in the NHS, Mental Health and
Social Care'. The report was commissioned by the Department
of Health and prepared by Performance Through Inclusion
Ltd, an external equality and diversity company. The report
was submitted to the Department in March 2005. Parts of
the report contain an analysis of bullying and harassment
in the NHS and therefore fall within the scope of the request.
A
copy of the relevant extracts of the report are attached
and information that falls outside the scope of the
request has been redacted.The Department of Health wishes
to make it clear that the report was only ever intended
for internal use and has never been published. The report
does not represent Government policy and the Department
of Health has never endorsed its findings. In fact, we have
reservations about the integrity of some of the data used
in the report. For example, the estimate of the total cost
of bullying and harassment is stated as £325m per annum.
However, this figure also includes the cost of bullying
of NHS staff by patients and their families and this is
not explicit in the report.
It
must also be made clear that the figures contained in the
report are not official Government figures and cannot be
regarded as such. The only official national data on bullying
and harassment is collected by the Healthcare Commission
as part of the annual NHS Staff Survey. The Department of
Health does not collect any data on the rates or costs of
bullying to the NHS. Having said that, we do recognise that
tackling bullying and harassment in the NHS must be a priority
if we are to make the NHS an employer of choice. That is
why there is a significant work programme being taken forward
by NHS Employers to help NHS organisations tackle bullying
and harassment in the workplace.*
The
BBC report went onto say " It estimates that a minimum of
£229 million is spent covering the cost of sickness absence
and £96 million on replacing staff who have left their jobs
due to bullying".
The
report suggests that some work situations are particularly
associated with an enhanced risk of violence and that the
NHS has many of these characteristics. Healthcare staff
can be vulnerable as they work alone or at night. Having
a high customer service focus can also lead organisations
like the NHS to an increased risk of psychological violence
in the form of bullying.
Ruth
Johnston was a senior midwife in the NHS who became the
victim of bullying when she queried her salary after starting
a new job.
"I was in a management position and I had my desk taken
away, I had my office taken away. I was asked to go back
into uniform and had demeaning comments made".
Ms
Johnston says she was humiliated and belittled in front
of her colleagues and overloaded with work. She claims that
a booking on a training course was cancelled because she
was too old and attending would not be value for money.
She says that bullying led to depression and post traumatic
stress disorder. Ms Johnston's experience is an all too
frequent story according to trade unions.
Rachel
Maskell, a national officer at Unite the Union believes
that the target driven nature of the NHS has led to an increase
in bullying. "In the health service, we carried out a survey
among community practitioners and we found that about 50%
of the workforce either witnessed bullying or experienced
bullying over a 12 month period. "That clearly is a very
high percentage. Therefore we recognise the fact that management
need to put in proper systems to address this issue".
In
a statement the Department of Health said: "We recognise
that tackling bullying must be a priority if we are to make
the NHS an employer of choice. "That is why we are working
with NHS Employers to tackle this issue by helping Trusts
implement anti-bullying and harassment policies."
Source
BBC News and Department of Health
*©
Crown Copyright 2008 - jml
Property Services hold a Core Licence C02W00008738**
