WORK FORCE I S SUE S
New GMC guidance to improve working culture
New proposals have been published by the GMC to help tackle toxic working cultures and to promote safer, more compassionate environments. Doctors will be expected to report bullying and discrimination, as well as working towards making healthcare more supportive, inclusive and fair.
Speaking at the GMC Conference (4 May 2022), Professor Dame Carrie MacEwen, acting chair of council, recently highlighted the importance of tackling behaviours in the workplace that can compromise patient safety.
She pointed out that there have been some disturbing reports of large-scale failures in healthcare systems, with devastating consequences for patients. The Ockenden report into maternity care is the latest example. However, it follows a number of other high-profile investigations – from Morecombe Bay, and the Cumberlege report, to the Mid Staff Inquiry. There is one common link shared by all of these damning reports into healthcare failures – the workplace culture. “There might be bullying, poor communication, a lack of respect for colleagues, lack of transparency or just plain bad leadership. But ultimately, those things all add up to one common overall sum – that of a toxic culture,” she commented. “When we listen to what doctors tell us about their work, we can see that workplace culture has a huge impact not only on their job satisfaction, but more importantly on their ability to care for patients – a double
whammy, as failure to provide optimal care results in more psychological trauma to the doctors involved. “We also know that doctors from ethnic minority backgrounds and doctors with disabilities have a significantly poorer experience of working in the UK health
When we listen to what doctors tell us about their work, we can see that workplace culture has a huge impact not only on their job satisfaction, but more importantly on their ability to care for patients – a double whammy, as failure to provide optimal care results in more
psychological trauma to the doctors involved. Professor Dame Carrie MacEwen, GMC.
JUNE 2022
services – and that means we run the risk of losing talented clinicians, at a time when they’re needed more than ever.” She also highlighted the fact that there had been some distressing accounts in the media of sexual harassment and even assault suffered by doctors, at the hands of colleagues as well as patients. The Independent, for example, reported that nearly 150 doctors have been disciplined for sexual misconduct in the last five years (15 February 2022). A paper, Sexual assault in surgery: a painful truth, by S Fleming and RA Fisher (published in the September 2021 edition of Bulletin) also highighted the extent of issue. They offered extensive examples of a toxic, hierachical healthcare culture in which staff felt unable to report harrassment. The authors went on to point out that “for trainees in particular, the significant power that trainers have over career progression can silence even the most confident voices.”
WWW.CLINICALSERVICESJOURNAL.COM l 33
▲
©langstrup
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
