Junior doctors bullied – report

Waikato Hospital has launched an urgent probe into claims of bullying of young doctors by senior colleagues. The allegations are contained in a damning report by the Medical Council of New Zealand, with claims bullying and harassment are under-reported by intern doctors.

A three-yearly review of the DHB’s training of interns by the medical council in August found the hospital did not meet four of 22 sets of standards.

The health board has six months to turn things around or risk losing accreditation.

The medical council’s report, which was presented at the DHB’s October board meeting, highlights a raft of concerns, including allegations of bullying of junior staff.

The report says instances of bullying may not be reported by young doctors because of concerns about confidentiality and potential repercussions.

In response, the DHB has launched an independent review into bullying in its general medicine department.

The development comes as the health board, in partnership with Waikato University, makes a play to establish the country’s third medical school.

Waikato DHB chairman Bob Simcock said the medical council’s findings were disappointing.

‘‘Somebody said to me the other day we have an issue in our organisation where we tell ourselves stories about ourselves and they aren’t always true,’’ Simcock said.

‘‘I don’t know how many times I’ve been told that we are the place of choice for junior doctors and yet what this [report] says to me is, that’s simply not true. We’ve had this review that says there are a bunch of stuff that’s not appropriate.’’

Simcock said the DHB needs to become more self-critical.

Simcock himself has come under fire in recent weeks over his handling of the investigation into disgraced health boss Nigel Murray.

Murray resigned as Waikato DHB chief executive on October 5 after investigators found he had overspent on agreed relocation costs during his shift from Canada in 2014 and filed other unauthorised expense claims.

Interim chief executive Derek Wright said the medical council’s report identified issues regarding the hospital’s culture which were being addressed.

However, a lack of specifics regarding allegations of bullying did create challenges, Wright said.

‘‘It’s difficult because we asked for . . . information about the bullying and it wasn’t supplied, so it’s almost like an anonymous complaint,’’ he said.

Overall, hospital management is confident of addressing the medical council’s concerns within the six-month period, Wright said.

Board member Clyde Wade, a former cardiologist, said without specific details about bullying and harassment, the DHB was ‘‘looking for a needle in a haystack’’.

The medical council’s report also highlighted concerns with intern workloads, education resources, the hospital’s clinical task management and training programme governance.

The report writers said the DHB’s executive team demonstrated no obvious understanding of interns’ workload pressures.

Serious concerns were also raised about the lack of consistent handover processes across all services, with some senior doctors reluctant to engage with junior staff during handover.

‘‘The issues of handover, task management and prioritisation, and workload all represent risks to patient safety,’’ the report said.

Meanwhile, an article published in the latest edition of the New Zealand

Medical Journal raises questions about Waikato DHB’s med school bid.

Caleb Armstrong, a psychiatrist and ex-Waikato DHB staffer, said Waikato Hospital had a questionable record when it came to training and retaining doctors.

He highlighted the medical council’s report on the DHB’s training of intern doctors, the hospital’s loss of accreditation for obstetrics and gynaecology in 2015, and possible loss of accreditation for orthopaedic surgery training.

In reply, DHB executive director of hospital services Brett Paradine said the hospital had worked hard to address the concerns of the New Zealand Orthopaedic Association. The board was ‘‘completely confident’’ of retaining its orthopaedic accreditation, Paradine said.

Waikato Hospital women’s health service will be assessed in February as it looks to regain its training accreditation.