CQC publishes report into 'shocking and unacceptable' bullying of its staff

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published the findings of an independent report into “shocking and unacceptable” bullying and harassment of its staff.

David Behan, chief executive of the organisation, asked People Opportunities to conduct an investigation after the CQC’s annual staff survey, which was carried out last December, revealed that 28 per cent claimed its culture was bullying.

Ninety-two per cent of employees interviewed, including staff members and line managers, as part of ‘Exploring Bullying and Harassment in the CQC’, which was published on Friday, claimed they felt they had been subjected to bullying and that there was a problem within the organisation. Some of the common reasons given for feeling this way included the way they were managed to reach targets, being treated in a negative manner and being “terrified of being punished for speaking out”.

Mr Behan plans to use the findings of the report to improve the organisation’s working environment to ensure its members of staff are not subjected to bullying or harassment.

He said: “I appointed People Opportunities to conduct this report in December last year in response to staff survey results which suggested that some colleagues had experienced bullying and harassment within the organisation. This was shocking and unacceptable. CQC has a zero-tolerance attitude towards bullying and harassment.

“We are very grateful for the members of staff who came forward to share their experiences. Without their honesty and courage we would not have been able to identify the improvements that needed to be made.

"From reading the report, it is clear that the vast majority of people who work for CQC are passionate about their jobs and that they are dedicated to providing patients and service users with high quality and safe care.

“We are committed to building a future organisation to be proud of in every way. We know that we are at the start of this journey and that we need to take the time to build and maintain good relationships, which are based on trust. This will help us become the excellent place to work that we want to be and our members of staff expect it to be.

“Our focus is on accountability and improvement through what we do and how we do it. We will take lessons from this report into our thinking when making decision about change and the pace of change needed.”

To read the report, visit http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/documents/bullying_and_harassment_in_cqc_-_full_report.pdf.