A retired consultant anaesthetist has sparked outrage after calling for female surgeons to ‘toughen up’ in reaction to research indicating that 30% of them have been sexually assaulted by colleagues.
Peter Hilton’s letter, published in The Times yesterday, said that a “snowflake generation” of largely young, female doctors, selected on academic excellence, “clearly had not done their homework”.
It continued: “Medical training and practice is brutal and demanding, with long hours, and bullying happens. Sexually inappropriate comments and actions do occur. It is stressful.
“All I can say is that if they want to make a success of this rewarding career then they should toughen up. Perhaps four A*s at A-level are not the answer to all the problems they will face.”
Research in the British Journal of Surgery published this week found that 63.3% of female surgeons had been sexually harassed while 89.5% reported witnessing such behaviour.
The survey of more than 1,700 surgeons in the UK, commissioned by the Working Party on Sexual Misconduct in Surgery (WPSMS), also found that 29.9% of female surgeons had been sexually assaulted.
The Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine said: “On behalf of our members we write to express our disgust and dismay over comments made by Dr Peter Hilton that doctors subjected to ‘sexually inappropriate comments and actions’ should accept this as part of medical training and practice. Such actions represent criminal behaviour and are wholly unacceptable.”
Sexual assault in the NHS
In a letter today, Dr Rhiannon D’Arcy, a specialty registrar in public health medicine, congratulated the newspaper for printing Hilton’s letter and “truly airing medicine’s dirty laundry”.
“The experiences of female medics regarding sexual assault and harassment in the workplace are routinely dismissed, minimised and ignored in the interests of maintaining the status quo. In writing his letter, Dr Hilton has inadvertently provided the perfect exemplar of why such issues prevail,” she said.
Dr Stephanie Susay, a consultant anaesthetist said she was shocked or saddened by Hilton’s letter. “His comment that female trainees and surgeons should ‘toughen up’ in response to misogyny and sexual harassment reveals his own attitude to the prevalent, unsettling apparent immunity that male medical staff have against team members’ objections.”
Sue Chalstrey, a consultant surgeon, said: “Rather than expecting doctors to ‘toughen up’, surely it would be more enlightened to evolve into a profession where skill and empathy are valued more than submission to an outdated patriarchal system.”
Speaking to The Times yesterday, Hilton stood by his letter. “I’m not the only one of my generation that feels like this. I’ve sent the letter to colleagues I worked with and they agree wholeheartedly,” he said. “Medicine is not alone in having a culture of bullying, sexual abuse, verbal or otherwise, and banter that’s in bad taste. The reality is that it is bloody hard work and it takes a lot of time to train and it’s demanding.
that female trainees and surgeons should ‘toughen up’ in response to misogyny and sexual harassment reveals his own attitude to the prevalent, unsettling apparent immunity that male medical staff have against team members’ objections” – Stephanie Susay, consultant surgeon
“When I see young girls leaping up and down with A* grades and getting into medical school my heart sinks, because they haven’t got a clue what medicine is about.”
Hilton said he was “not condoning sexual harassment” and that criminal allegations should be investigated. Asked about the WPSMS findings, he said: “From what I’ve seen, most of it is trivial. The important thing in medicine is the patient on the operating table.”
He continued: “Medicine’s tough. It was very male-dominated and now it’s not. The women that get to the top in surgery are tough – they have to be. They have coped with it without making a massive issue.”
Last month, the General Medical Council announced that zero tolerance of sexual harassment, including clear definitions of what constitutes it and an expectation that doctors who see such behaviour will act, will be included for the first time in its new professional standards from January 2024.
Samantha Dickinson, equality and diversity partner at law firm Mayo Wynne Baxter, said: “The NHS should immediately communicate to all their surgeons and staff that [sexual misconduct] is wholly unacceptable and invite those who are survivors of such behaviour to approach them for support.
“The NHS must make it clear they will dismiss anybody who is found to have committed any act of sexual harassment or violence, no matter how good a doctor that wrongdoer might be. This statement of intent must be followed by decisive and swift action to investigate all complaints received. Words are not enough.”
She added: “Working in a high-pressure environment is not an excuse for inappropriate sexual behaviour in the same way that exuberant celebrations of sporting success are not an excuse. Toxic employees and unlawful behaviour cannot be tolerated simply because the aggressor is high profile or high performing.”
Yesterday, Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England applauded those who have shared what has happened to them and urged others to do the same.
“While local NHS trusts have measures in place for staff to report their experiences and support is available, action must be taken against the perpetrators, regardless of their role, and such conduct will not be tolerated in the NHS,” she said.
“We are already taking action to ensure the NHS is a safe environment for all patients and staff, including through our first ever sexual safety charter and providing more support and clear reporting mechanisms, and we will raise this important report with health leaders across England this week.”
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