Survey says junior medicos feel bullied by senior docs

BULLYING and harassment have been exposed in Toowoomba Hospital.

A survey of junior doctors shows almost half (42 per cent) experienced and/or witnessed bullying, discrimination and harassment on the job and half of the perpetrators were senior medicos, including consultants and registrars.

The Australian Medical Association Resident Hospital Health Check 2017 says 33% of respondents felt something could be done about the behaviour and more than half (58%) believed they would face negative consequences if they reported it.

About two thirds (67%) surveyed said the reported incidents were addressed.

NewsRegional analysis of the data reveals 25% of Toowoomba Hospital doctors work more than 90 hours a fortnight but 22% were advised not to claim overtime pay.

Almost half (42%) of respondents feared they would make clinical errors because of fatigue.

It must be noted that the survey sample size was small, with only 20% of the state’s 2267 resident medical officers taking part.

The number of Toowoomba Hospital doctors who responded to the survey was not available.

Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service’s Dr Martin Byrne said the service took the welfare of its staff “very seriously”.

Dr Byrne said there were also strategies in place to reduce overtime and to ensure clinical fatigue was avoided.

“Toowoomba Hospital and DDHHS as a whole has a zero tolerance approach to bullying, discrimination or harassment. Any reported incidents are investigated thoroughly,” the executive director of Medical Services and Rural said.

“Training on how to recognise and respond to bullying is provided to interns when they start at Toowoomba Hospital and is built into ongoing mandatory training for junior doctors as they progress.

“All junior medical staff are encouraged to report any incidences of workplace bullying.”

AMA Queensland Council of Doctors in Training chair Dr Matthew Cheng said he was stunned at how many of the state’s hospitals had an issue with bullying and that overall there had been no improvement on last year’s survey.

Across the board, 47% of doctors said they were exposed to toxic behaviour in the workplace, compared to 45% in 2016.

Nearly two thirds (61%) of respondents feared their careers would be harmed if they reported bad behaviour and that their future training would be impacted.

“It’s pretty astounding – it’s surprising,” Dr Cheng told NewsRegional.

“The medical system is very hierarchical, there is a lot of stress and I guess sometimes people take advantage of that system.”

Dr Cheng said young doctors often felt their career progression could stall if they claimed overtime.

A Queensland Health spokesman said overtime, fatigue management and bullying and harassment practices were governed by legislation, policy and/or certified agreements.

“Patient safety and employee well-being, including staff fatigue, are taken seriously by Queensland Health,” he said.

- NewsRegional