‘Bullying and being bullied is everywhere now, at every level in the NHS’

‘Bullying and being bullied is everywhere now, at every level in the NHS’ | Matthew Barbour Domineering behaviour and sexism have dogged the medical profession, especially among surgeons. Now victims are being taught to fight back

“What can be perceived as harmless banter or acceptable behaviour by some people for decades can actually be deeply offensive, or even abusive,” says Judy Evans, consultant plastic surgeon at the private Nuffield hospital in Plymouth. “We’re now at a point where huge numbers of surgical positions aren’t being filled because millennials don’t want a job in which they think they will be bullied.”

Evans lost her job as an NHS consultant in 2000 after standing up for a junior doctor who had been bullied. “The bullying culture in medicine goes back decades,” she says. “Over 30 years ago, I remember turning up for a surgeon’s exam when I was seven months pregnant and being asked bluntly: ‘What are you doing here looking like that?’ Sadly, that kind of behaviour was seen as something women just had to put up with. Continue reading... The Guardian