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Press release: NHS Employers response to BMA call for zero tolerance on bullying and harassment in the workplace19 May 2006 Alastair Henderson, Deputy Director of NHS Employers said: 'The Healthcare Commission's staff survey results in March highlighted the problems of bullying and harassment in the NHS. But they also showed a small improvement in the figures which, although not as great as we would have liked, are evidence that we are heading in the right direction. The BMA is right that bullying has to stop. As the largest employer in the UK, it is vital that the NHS has a culture where any form of bullying and harassment is not tolerated. This is a concern across all staff groups. Any member of the healthcare team can experience bullying of one form or another whether it is by peers, by their managers or by the patients they care for and their families. Encouragingly the staff survey also showed that staff believe their employers take effective action when they are attacked, bullied or harassed. Tackling this problem is at the top of our agenda. We have recently issued guidance to encourage employers to put in place policies which states clearly that bullying and harassment of any form will not be tolerated and to give them advice on how to identify problems amongst their staff and how to resolve them. We are also working with individual trusts at local level to stamp out this problem.' Related publicationsBullying and harassment (232 kB PDF) Notes for editorsFurther information on NHS Employers is available at www.nhsemployers.org Contact detailsThe press office provides a comprehensive service to keep journalists informed about the work of NHS Employers. If you have a media enquiry, please contact the press office team:
For out of hours media enquiries, please contact the duty press officer on 07880 500726. Last reviewed 19 May 2006 |
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