News

Community health staff face bullying at work

Over 500 community nurses have responded to a survey on bullying in the NHS which has been prompted by growing concern about the levels of the problem.

Some staff, including health visitors, are being bullied at work to such an extent that they ‘can’t get up in the morning or are being sick on the way to work,’ said Karen Reay, regional officer for Amicus/Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’ Association (CPHVA) which is carrying out the survey.

Ms Reay added: ‘Bullying is an epidemic – it is dangerous, it is widespread and often it goes undetected until too late.’ With government emphasis on recruitment and retention of nursing staff, Ms Reay added, it was essential to tackle a problem which is causing people to leave the health service without challenging what has happened to them.

The results from the survey of 437 nurses, jointly run by the CPHVA and the Mental Health Nurses Association, will be published at the CPHVA annual conference in October.

One aim is to make employers and managers take the issue more seriously but survey results will also be used to campaign for more support for staff who are being bullied. Gail Cartmail, Amicus head of health, said: ‘We want stronger structures in place so that this insidious phenomenon is stamped out.’

Amicus, the union which includes the CPHVA and Mental Health Nurses Association, represents a total of 65,000 health staff ranging from speech therapists to clinical psychologists. The union is now looking at the possibility of conducting similar surveys for other professional groups.

There is growing union concern about bullying within the NHS. A recent survey of 2,000 health staff by UNISON found many staff frightened of reprisals for blowing the whistle on bad practice and evidence of a bullying culture.