“There are still some shocking numbers there"
A report has found that resident doctors in the West Midlands face bullying, sexism and racism.
The report, presented to a University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust board meeting, highlighted ongoing issues faced by resident doctors.
The Medical Academy Annual Report detailed survey findings on workplace conditions for resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors.
The academy oversees their learning environment and set up a Doctor Wellbeing Group in 2023 to address concerns.
A survey conducted in March 2023 identified areas needing improvement. A follow-up survey in May 2024 showed some progress but persistent concerns.
In 2024, 47% of resident doctors reported experiencing bullying or harassment, down slightly from 50% in 2023.
Reports of sexism or misogyny fell to 22% in 2024, a 10% decrease from the previous year.
However, reports of racism increased from 16% in 2023 to 20% in 2024.
Fewer doctors were able to take all their annual leave, with figures dropping from 85% in 2023 to 73% last year. Those receiving rotas with six weeks’ notice also declined from 65% to 61%.
There were improvements in some areas.
Awareness of Wellbeing Officer support rose from 56% in 2023 to 71% in 2024. Issues with contacting rota coordinators also fell from 62% to 41%.
Non-Executive Director Professor John Atherton said:
“There are still some shocking numbers there, about 50% of our trainees report bullying or intimidation, 20% report racism in some form.
“When you go into it, some of that is from seniors and colleagues which is shocking and we need to deal with that.
“But even more is from patients. What are we doing about that?
“We’re a big, multicultural society and it’s quite shocking to hear that racism is happening from patients. I’m quite surprised at the level we’re seeing.”
Chief Medical Officer Professor Kiran Patel said: “We have a 20% prevalence of sexism and racism and that is worse than most benchmark organisations and that comes from both staff and patients.
“For patients we do have a ‘yellow card’ system in place.”
“We probably don’t issue as many as we should but we are looking at that again. In ED, we do have hostility towards medical and nursing staff.
“In terms of bullying and sexism from medical staff, we’re taking this very seriously.
“We’ve opened medical concerns reporting for trainees anonymously. We are seeing that come through the system.
“There are pockets in certain specialities where we are tackling the cultural reform that needs to happen.”
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