Thousands of SAS and LE doctors report bullying in ‘troubling’ GMC survey

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By Lily Canter

Thousands of locally employed and specialty, associate specialist and specialist doctors experience bullying and discrimination at work – with consultants the main perpetrators, according to a survey.

Almost one in four (23%) LE doctors and nearly one in three (31%) SAS doctors told the General Medical Council (GMC) they had experienced or witnessed bullying or harassment in their role.

Consultants were most often identified as the source of bullying and undermining behaviour.

Charlie Massey, chief executive of the GMC, called the survey of more than 10,500 doctors a “wake-up call” and described the findings as “deeply troubling”.

Among doctors who did not report incidents, two thirds (67%) believed doing so would make no difference.

And more than half also feared repercussions for their careers or relationships with colleagues.

The GMC’s survey, the first major survey of LE and SAS doctors for seven years, asked them about their roles, motivations, workplace experiences and their access to training and development.