Powerful accounts of bullying within NHS Highland have been spelled out in detail to board members in a major two-day summit to tackle the historic regime of harassment within the authority.
Top management and board members of NHS Highland came together this week for a dedicated workshop to look in depth at the issues arising from the bullying and inappropriate behaviour reported in the Sturrock Review published earlier this year.
Victims delivered “powerful first-hand accounts” and the authority’s interim chairman admitted it “failed to prevent and recognise bullying and address the underlying causes and issues”.
The holding of a workshop was one of the key recommendations made in the Sturrock Review.
The two-day event at the Drumossie Hotel allowed board members, non-executive directors and senior management to reflect on the findings of the report.
The workshop opened with powerful first-hand accounts from current and former staff members who had been personally affected by bullying and inappropriate behaviour.
Some of the proposals for the way forward will be incorporated into the Action Plan which will be published following the current series of staff engagement meetings taking place across NHS Highland over the next three months.
In the short term it was also agreed that a number of actions will be taken immediately, particularly in relation to addressing the hurt felt by the victims of bullying and inappropriate behaviour.
It was agreed that there will be a single process for restitution and healing, modelled on a case-by-case basis.
NHS Highland chief executive Iain Stewart said: “The personal accounts from colleagues were extremely powerful and enabled us to gain a better understanding of how these issues have affected people in their professional and personal lives.
“It is clear that there has been significant harm caused by individuals in the past and I want to apologise to those affected.”
A spokesman for the whistleblowers who came forward with the allegations last year said it was a refreshing development with the “tone of words helpful to move forward”.