Research reveals the NHS to be blighted by bullying with woman suffering
more than men
Nearly half of care professionals in the NHS have been bullied in the past
two years, and some 68 per cent have seen bullying taking place, a study has
found.
Of the 167 care professionals surveyed, 40 per cent say they have been
bullied, with managers being the perpetrators half the time and non-managers or
peers in a third of cases.
The research, presented to the British Association for Counselling and
Psychotherapy by chartered psychologist, Noreen Tehrani, reports that of the 67
care professionals who say they have been bullied, 44 per cent have some degree
of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The study also found that women were bullied more frequently than men. One
of the reasons for this, she suggested, was that non-managers were bullied more
than managers, and more men were managers.
"Little research has been undertaken on the impact of prolonged or
chronic trauma perpetrated in a working or personal relationship," said
Tehrani.
"It would appear there are some differences in the magnitude and inter-relationship
between groups of symptoms that can differentiate acute and chronic victims of
trauma, but more needs to be done to identify the mechanisms that are involved
in the development of post-traumatic stress in a range of situations," she
added.
In a separate development, the HSE has unveiled a new methodology,
Interventions to control stress at work in hospital staff, to tackle stress
within the NHS.
The study, the result of research funded by Unison and the Royal College of
Nursing, looks at ways of assessing psychosocial risks and organisational
hazards, how to prioritise findings to translate into interventions and how to
implement and evaluate interventions.
The methodology is being applied in three NHS trusts, involving five
different worker groups, and the HSE will now assess what impact it has made on
stress levels.
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