A progress report on the action plan to tackle bullying in NHS Highland (NHSH) met with a low-key response round the NHSH board table yesterday, while the bullying whistle blowers group condemned it as ticking boxes and avoiding the key issues.
‘Culture Fit for The Future’ was put together by NHSH human resources department for the Scottish Government following John Sturrock QC’s report on the allegations of bullying and a bullying culture within NHSH.
The report describes progress so far on five themes, including communications; human resources progress; organisational development; support for staff and governance.
Interim board medical director Boyd Peters described it as ‘a plan for a plan’.
He said: “It is clear this is going to take a long time. It’s a journey that others in Scotland are watching, in the NHS and public sector as a whole, and we’ve got to find the right ways to do it.”
Employee director, and Unison branch secretary Adam Palmer said there was a perception that the action plan had not done a great deal and needed to have much wider engagement and many more views in it.
He said: “I have gone out and about speaking to people in a non-scientific exercise.
“I have talked to 60 people so far and only 13 had heard of the action plan.
“People said the way the plan came out was not obvious. They said no one explained the process of producing the plan and staff weren’t consulted.”
The action plan progress report has failed to impress the whistle blowers, represented by former head of communications at NHSH, Brian Devlin.
He said: “We’re extremely concerned at the lack of pace and action around the bullying agenda.
“An action plan was put together with all the actions having ticks next to them as though completed, now we’re told it’s a plan about a plan.
“We appear to have fallen down a rabbit hole where the board is not taking this agenda seriously.”
The whistleblowers have consistently demanded help and compensation for victims of bullying, something not covered in the action plan.
Mr Devlin said: “Where is the scheme for psychological support for people who have been harmed?
“How do people go about seeking compensation for their lost careers and their damaged health even to the point of suicidal planning as a consequence of the bullying that they have suffered from?
“Is anyone even beginning to put pen to paper and draw these things up? This is not an exercise, it is real.”
“The chairman said previously that the board stand beside people who have been harmed.
“Well, people who have been harmed want more than words and plans about plans.”
Mr Devlin said the whistleblowers have serious reservations about members still on the board after the Sturrock report vindicated their allegations of bullying.
He said: “It would seem that for as long as this board has people on it at exec and non-exec levels who were by-standers or cheerleaders of the regime that allowed the bullying to occur in the first place, then authentic change will not occur.
“They need to reflect on whether they have the right judgement to be on the board if they didn’t spot what was going on all round them.”
The union GMB Scotland said its members in NHSH were also concerned about the ‘sluggish’ pace of progress in the implementation of the Sturrock Review.
GMB Scotland’s Drew Duffy said: “There has been an epidemic of bullying and harassment in NHS Highland and many livelihoods have been ruined or lost.
“It demands a swift and transparent response so confidence can be rebuilt.
“There is new leadership in place with a fantastic opportunity to implement the necessary recommendations, but we cannot afford to get bogged down in bureaucracy.
“The message from our members is clear: Let’s get on with it together, at pace and with purpose.”
