Council leader calls for investigation over Shropshire hospital bullying claims

Councillor Shaun Davies has called for an ‘independent body’ to look into multiple allegations of bullying made to him by staff at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH).

He says he has been contacted by staff over many months and has raised the concerns and allegations of bullying with NHS bosses.

Councillor Davies said: “Doctors, nurses, clerical staff, staff in all types of roles, have been coming to me for many months.

“There needs to be an independent body that comes in now that looks into the culture of bullying and harassment at the trust.

“I have raised concerns with the trust, NHS England and NHS Improvement.

“SaTH is a large employer. Many people who live in Telford and Wrekin work for SaTH.

“My door is always open if they have any concerns to raise.”

Earlier this year SaTH’s staff survey revealed one in four staff had claimed to have experienced bullying or harassment at work.

Victoria Maher, workforce director at SaTH, which runs Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford's Princess Royal Hospital, said: “As an organisation we are concerned that members of our staff are reporting this.

Aware

"This is not how we want any of our people to feel.

“We have run a series of staff conversations on the back of our most recent staff survey results to hear directly from our people, to hear what their concerns are and how we can address them. To respond to this we are launching a 'We value respect' campaign.

"To further support this we have increased the hours of our two 'freedom to speak up' guardians, and we are producing staff information on behaviours so we can all be really clear on what behaviours we expect to see in work from all our people."

She said the trust has produced a 'freedom to speak up' strategy outlining its commitment, roles and responsibilities.

She added: "We are aware of concerns raised by Telford & Wrekin Council’s leader and our chair has spoken with him to discuss these further so we can continue to work closely together to alleviate any concerns our staff may have.

"As a result of this open-ended offer our chair has met twice with staff to hear their concerns.

“Finally, I would encourage anyone who has any concerns to contact either myself or one of our 'freedom to speak up' guardians so that we can investigate.”