A bid by a health worker to find out if a surgeon working at Perth Royal Infirmary (PRI) had a history of bullying and harassment has been unsuccessful.
The NHS Tayside employee, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed the health boss verbally abused him and also alleges he did the same to a student nurse at the hospital.
The complainer states that, as a result, he suffered a “traumatic reaction”.
He then attempted to get details of previous allegations of bullying and harassment carried out by the consultant orthopaedic surgeon.
The employee, named as ‘Mr X’ in the Scottish Information Commissioner document, had initially asked for the information in October 2016, with NHS Tayside responding on November 21. The health body stated they were withholding the requested details.
The following day, Mr X wrote to NHS Tayside asking for a review of the decision on the basis he believed there was a public interest. He referred to his concerns about the risks the consultant posed to NHS Tayside staff and patients in terms of bullying, harassment and breach of dignity, along with preventing physical, psychological or emotional injury.
However, NHS Tayside notified Mr X of the outcome of its review, confirming it upheld its original decision. He then applied to the Scottish Information Commissioner, claiming he was dissatisfied with the outcome of NHS Tayside’s review as he believed disclosure of the information was “necessary” in the public interest.
He has now said he feels NHS Tayside is “covering up” the truth by not revealing information of bullying allegations against the surgeon.
“The issue was due to an incident where I was verbally assaulted by this individual surgeon in that he shouted at me in an aggressive manner,” he claimed.
“I had a significant reaction to this due to suffering from previous bullying in another area of NHS Tayside, triggering off a traumatic reaction.
“This surgeon has a history of bullying staff, and being aggressive to them. Two weeks before he was aggressive to me he did the same to a student nurse.”
A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “NHS Tayside does not comment on matters relating to individual members of staff.
“NHS Tayside is committed to providing a working environment which is free from bullying and harassment does not condone this behaviour in any form. Every employee of NHS Tayside has a responsibility to treat their colleagues with dignity and respect.
“We take any allegations of bullying seriously and have very robust policies and procedures in place so that staff can feel confident to report any concerns that they may have.”
