Trust must tackle “bullying and toxic” culture that is putting patient care at risk, says review

A “bullying and toxic” environment pervades one of the UK’s biggest hospital trusts, staff told a review set up to investigate patient safety and governance.1

The rapid review of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) was established following allegations of patient safety risks by the BBC Newsnight programme and the suicide of a junior doctor.

Led by Mike Bewick, former deputy medical director of NHS England, the review’s overall conclusion was that the trust, which runs four hospitals, is “a safe place to receive care.” But it warned that “any continuance of a culture that is corrosively affecting morale, and in particular threatens long term staff recruitment and retention, will put at risk the care of patients across the organisation—particularly in the nationwide NHS staffing crisis.”

The report details staff …