Bullying doctors beware

Barwon Health has committed to stamp out bullying among surgeons, after an Australia-wide survey in 2016 found the profession was rife with such behaviour.
The provider signed a memorandum of understanding with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons on Wednesday committing to “specialist medical training in a safe environment”.
The agreement comes after the college released the findings of an independent survey of more than 3500 surgeons in 2016 revealing a “toxic culture”.
Surgical registrars Yit Leang and Gaushi Sivarajah welcomed the memorandum and described Barwon Health as a safe place to work.
“I think my supervisors do a good job making sure we’re not bullied or bullying somebody,” he said.
Dr Sivarajah said the memorandum gave surgery trainees “a pathway to go down” if they felt uncomfortable, harassed or bullied.
“Having a process means people can come forward anonymously and feel more comfortable about speaking up and knowing something will be done about it.
“In the past it would be very easy to tell someone it’s happening, but there was no official way of following up.”
Barwon Health board chair Dr John Stekelenberg said the agreement would improve patient safety and enrich the workplace culture.
“Barwon Health will also provide overall support to specialist trainees (to deliver) quality learning experiences.”
College president Phil Truskett said both groups would exchange information and take appropriate action wherever possible.
A college spokesperson refused to rule out instances of bullying at Barwon Health, but would not go into further details for privacy reasons.
In April 2015 whistle-blower Professor Paddy Dewan called for State Government and the college to investigate Barwon Health.
The paediatric surgeon said he had been bullied at Geelong, the Royal Children’s Hospital and Western Health.
“I’ve been villified for complaining about bullying – that was the initiation of my concerns about quality of care and bullying behaviours,” Prof Dewan told The Indy in 2015.