According to a recent report it was found that NHS staffs were being bullied by patients and their relatives and by senior doctors and nurses . Statistics show that every 1 in 7 people report harrowing experiences from other members of staff. Hence the BMA calling for stringent measures against bullies from the top down in all workplaces in the health service. Bullying and harassment affects the dignity of people at work and could be related to someone’s gender, age, race, religion and sexual orientation. Workplace bullying and harassment occurs across the medical workforce from medical students, to junior doctors to consultants and GPs. It is said that about 1 in 4 medical students were bullied by other doctors, and 16% reported being bullied by nurses.

Dr Sam Everington, Deputy Chairman of the BMA, said that this has to stop as workplace bullying affects up to 50 % of the UK workforce at some time in their working lives and costs employers 80 million lost working days and up to £2 million in lost revenue each year. He said that this type of a scenario would affect both the staff and the employer as it increases the stress factor thereby the health professionals take more time of work and will be more likely to leave the health service. Hence the British Medical Association has come up with certain solutions to solve the problem regarding bullying such as the deans and those involved in training, should have a policy for dealing with bullying and harassment at work. Various guidelines should be drawn which would protect the people from being bullied. Staff training must be updated appropriately. The problem of bullying and harassment should be tackled tactfully.