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Thursday 17th September 2015
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How some of the smartest people
in the country are getting
this wrong...
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In today's Health & Safety Bulletin:
- Shock report: an unhealthy bullying culture in the health sector
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Dear Reader,
This month has delivered our team a sobering reminder that bullying can happen anywhere – even in sectors which might be perceived as caring or nurturing.
Our Editor-in-Chief, Michael Selinger, has been devoting a huge amount of his time to looking at bullying and mental health in Australian workplaces lately. And a new draft report by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons has given him a lot to chew over. |
The peak standards body for the medical profession has done some soul-searching to prepare a very damning report into the culture of hospitals and medical practices.
If you’ve had dealings with some senior medical specialists over the years as a patient, you might have picked up on an arrogant attitude. Even if they’re making the right diagnosis, some of these professions can be pretty unprofessional in their dealings.
But the conduct detailed in this report is a time bomb. Make no mistake: the details Michael walks you through today are a raft of anti-bullying orders, discrimination claims, workers’ compensation claims, and negligence suits waiting to happen.
But the silver lining is that the College has made suggestions on what should change, many of which you could put into place to protect your workers and save your reputation.
Preventing bullying isn’t brain surgery. In fact, sometimes some of the sharpest minds fall into the trap of ignoring or condoning bullying behaviour.
We think it should be simple – that’s why Michael wrote the Bullying Guide last year (and updated it this year). You’ve got some complicated liabilities out there – but you’ve also got some easy-to-implement solutions.
Michael’s also hard at work putting the finishing touches on another essential product that will be an Australian first when it’s published. Stay tuned to hear more from us about that in the coming weeks, and read on to hear from Michael himself.
Take care,
Joseph Nunweek
Editor, Health & Safety Bulletin
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The Health & Safety Handbook is now accessible online
via our brand new digital platform.
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Shock report: an unhealthy
bullying culture in the
health sector
by Michael Selinger
Editor-in-Chief, Health & Safety Handbook
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons has made the news recently with the release of a draft research report which details the background and findings of research regarding the experience of discrimination, bullying and sexual harassment in the practice of surgery.
The findings of the report were quite damning, and included findings that:
- Almost twice as many females experience bullying, compared to their male counterparts.
- Most bullying is directed towards trainee surgeons.
- Almost 80% of those who experienced sexual harassment are female.
- Discrimination occurs, including racial discrimination and discrimination against those who have responsibilities as carers. These included the active discouraging of family friendly practices, affecting both male and female surgeons.
- Unreasonable behaviours are generally overtly displayed.
- Females, particularly trainees, are subjected to sexual harassment with a range of behaviours from lewd comments to demands for sexual intercourse.
Disgusting behaviour – so where are the employers?
Conduct of this nature and to this extent is incredibly alarming, but of equal concern is the lack of process and response within the hospital and the College to deal with the bullying and harassment.
The report found that:
- There is a lack of support for victims and a lack of responsible action taken to respond to complaints.
- Complaints processes in hospitals lack effective application of procedural fairness and principles of natural justice, and hospital management are afraid to upset senior surgeons.
- People in positions of power and influence dominate the workplace culture in a negative and intimidating way, and most perpetrators of unreasonable behaviours are in positions of power and influence.
- There is a power imbalance between surgeons and trainees, and between males and females. A lack of independent reporting mechanisms and complaints processes supports this power imbalance.
- Powerful networks of surgeons can control the career outcomes of other workers in a competitive environment, and there is a culture of bullying as “a rite of passage” which sees bullying as an expression of intent to prepare trainees for surgery.
- Minority groups, particularly trainees and women, are devalued and women are not considered suitable for surgery.
- Fear is common, the greatest fears being loss of career and loss of reputation. A number of survey participants even feared answering the survey, despite guarantees of anonymity.
How will this be fixed?
The report included the following recommendations, including that hospitals:
- Develop an independent complaints process.
- Increase communication between hospital management/human resource departments and the college.
- Provide appropriate and avenues of support including mentoring trainees, graduates and females, and appoint appropriate contact officers.
- Provide for greater measures of accountability including implementing training programs, reviewing performance management systems to ensure surgeons’ performance is assessed by taking into account the capacity to work with others in a respectful and professional manner.
- Develop ways to lead and influence by developing and training awareness programs to promote workplaces free from discrimination, bullying and sexual harassment;
- Review structures for a more inclusive practice that supports the balance of career and career commitments for both genders, particularly in relation to women.
Lessons for your business
Although focused on the practice of surgery and its particular circumstance, the report highlights a number of key areas of improvement that can apply to all organisations in particular systems or processes to improve the culture of an organisation.
Lessons can be drawn from the experience of the College as to how your organisation can promote a culture of respect and diversity, free from harassment and bullying.
Warm regards,
Michael Selinger
Editor-in-Chief, Health & Safety Handbook |
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