Highlands and Islands MSP, Edward Mountain today has called for NHS Highland to rollout a survey to all employees to gauge how widespread the bullying culture remains within the health board since the publication of the Sturrock Report.
The call was made after BBC Radio Scotland reported ongoing issues of bullying within the Argyll & Bute Health and Social Care Partnership. A staff survey sent to 1500 employees returned 508 responses, 68 per cent of which confirmed they had experienced bullying.
Edward Mountain has welcomed NHS Highland’s creation of a healing process, however the MSP also confirmed some former and current employees of the health board are still contacting him to raise serious concerns about the continuation of a bullying culture.
Edward Mountain MSP is also supporting calls for a separate independent inquiry into bullying for the Argyll & Bute area of NHS Highland.
The remit of John Sturrock QC’s report into bullying within NHS Highland did not include an investigation into Argyll & Bute Health and Social Care Partnership.
Edward Mountain MSP commented:
“It’s almost two years since the whistle was blown on the dreadful culture of bullying taking place within NHS Highland and which the Sturrock report later confirmed.
While individuals are receiving help through NHS Highland’s Healing Process, I am deeply concerned that not enough action is being taken to undo the wider culture of bullying within the health board.
The survey from Argyll and Bute underlines how bullying has not gone away, with some staff continuing to be mistreated.
NHS Highland must now assess all regions within the health board through a staff survey to provide a true picture of how deep the problem is and showing how much progress has been made since the Sturrock report.
Bullying should not be tolerated in any workplace and I continue to offer my support to victims who have suffered from this sorry episode.”
