Senior doctors say bullying prolific
New Zealand’s most senior doctors say they are being exposed to unmanageable workloads while at the same time being pressured not to access entitlements like leave.
The revelations form part of a significant new survey into bullying among senior medical specialists, which also shows half of doctors experience workplace bullying ‘‘to some degree’’, while 67 per cent reported having witnessed a colleague being bullied.
Behaviour described in the report ranged from violence, threats and intimidation through to humiliation, persistent criticism, allegations, gossip, exclusion and excessive monitoring of work.
It was not a diagnosis but ‘‘a symptom of a health system that has significant systemic problems’’, said Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) president Dr Hein Stander.
Foreign doctors reported being the recipients of significantly higher rates of negative behaviour ‘‘such as the spreading of gossip or rumours, being ignored or excluded and practical jokes from those they don’t get on with’’, the ASMS report said.
New Zealand-trained doctors were more likely to report having extreme workloads, and the highpressured area of emergency medicine reported the highest rates of bullying.
The report’s writer, ASMS analyst Charlotte Chambers, said bullying was defined by the person at the receiving end.
‘‘So I found it interesting that some people from particular ethnic backgrounds didn’t seem to score highly on the work-related bullying questions - they didn’t seem to think they’d been given unreasonable workloads.
‘‘Yet New Zealand-trained doctors did feel that some of these workloads were unreasonable and so they were scoring as bullied
"You cannot 'attack' a doctor without the risk of harming the patients he or she cares for." ASMS president Dr Hein Stander
according to that,’’ she said.
But figures relating to personal types of bullying toward doctors from ethnic backgrounds were ‘‘disappointing’’ though consistent with research.
‘‘It’s on a par with what you might expect, given bullying can segue into other negative behaviours like racism and harassment.’’
Bullying in all its forms, ‘‘flourished in busy, stressful, under-resourced work environments’’. It also appeared to increase concurrently alongside poor levels of support from colleagues and managers.
‘‘But I think what our research really draws attention to is that bullying is a symptom of a workforce and the workplaces being under a huge amount of stress.’’
Stander said the findings of the report gave him a ‘‘deep sense of sadness’’.
‘‘We cannot ignore the potential impact bullying has on patient safety and care. You cannot ‘attack’ a doctor without the risk of harming the patients he or she cares for.’’
ASMS executive director Ian Powell said the findings were concerning and the union would be discussing them with district health board heads.
The study was carried out among ASMS members and had a 40 per cent return rate. ASMS had more than 90 per cent membership among senior medical officers in public hospitals.