- Conference
- 2014 Health Care Service Group Conference
- Date
- 6 December 2013
- Decision
- Carried
The public sector cuts, austerity measures, top down reorganisations and increasing privatisation in the NHS have had an unprecedented negative impact on NHS employees, with increasing numbers leaving the NHS to escape from bullying, harassment, intimidation and fear.
Those who are left in the workplace are experiencing an increase in stress as work pressures mount and bullying, in its various manifestations, increases.
This is also affecting patients, as our professional members raise concerns about unsafe working practices, bullying and intimidation which are mainly due to the pressure to meet targets and implement these Tory led government cuts.
UNISON defines bullying as “offensive, intimidating, malicious, insulting or humiliating behaviour, abuse of power or authority which attempts to undermine an individual or group of employees and which may cause them to suffer stress”.
The impact of bullying perpetrated over time on an individual can be: excess levels of stress; anxiety and tension; fatigue; headaches; sleeplessness; depression; skin rashes; hypertension (high blood pressure); stomach complaints (ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome) and heart complaints.
It can also:
1)cause emotional distress;
2)destroy self-confidence and decrease levels of self worth;
3)reduce performance levels of some individuals due to inability to concentrate;
4)create an unpleasant and hostile working environment;
5)adversely affect career opportunities;
6)affect relationships with working colleagues, and personal relationships outside work.
We all know that it is critical for staff to feel empowered and supported to raise concerns safely and confidently. The NHS staff survey shows that staff are increasingly being made aware of how to raise concerns, but it also reports that half of the staff who responded had little or no confidence that their concern would be taken seriously and action would be taken.
The findings from the public inquiry into Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust show only too clearly the catastrophic effects when concerns are not raised and dealt with effectively.
More recent events at Colchester University Foundation Trust Hospital reveal a worrying trend of bullying of staff. Staff were bullied into falsifying data relating to the treatment of cancer patients. The staff reported their concerns within the organisation but these concerns were not acted upon by senior management. These courageous staff had no alternative but to whistleblow on the situation.
UNISON will at all times defend our members against such acts of bullying.
If we are to really succeed in protecting patients from harm and ensure dignity of care, then we need an open and transparent culture at all levels of the NHS.
This Conference calls upon the Health Service Group Executive to:
a)work with Learning and Organising Services (LAOS) and Regional Heads of Health to seek to ensure that NHS specific training courses and resources are provided to help our members recognise the signs of bullying and to be aware of the actions to take;
b)encourage branches to work with employers to adhere to bullying and harassment workplace polices;
c)recommend that every health branch has a dedicated steward or branch officer responsible for providing advice on whistleblowing and dealing with harassment and bullying where it arises;
d)work with the national employers to seek to ensure that employers will have a zero tolerance to bullying in the workplace and to seek to ensure each Trust board has a named champion with regards to this;
e)undertake an analysis of the National Staff Survey and publicise the results to include areas of exemplary and poor practise;
f)report back to Conference in 2015 on progress.