1. Have you got a specific strategy, policy or action plan in place to address the issue of bulling and harassment at your trust which was highlighted through the staff survey results over the past few years?
2. Did you take any specific actions at your Trust in the last 3 years to identify the main causes of harassment or bullying at work?
3. Do you encourage any preventive measures at your Trust to reduce occurrences of workplace bullying and harassment?
If yes, please outline what preventative measures are taken.
4. Do you have any specific procedures in place for reporting an incident when the alleged harasser or bully is a senior leader, supervisor or someone acting on behalf of the employer?
If yes, please outline what reporting procedures they are.
5. Do you have a freedom to speak up guardian?
If yes, who are they, please provide their title and contact details.
Also, is there an executive lead outside of the HR team?
6. Does your Trust examine the leadership styles most often used in your workplace, and how that can affect the prevalence of bullying and harassment?
7. Please quantify how many staff have been funded by your trust in the past 3 years to attend any Leadership and/or Management course to strengthen the leadership at the trust?
If any, please indicate the length of the course, for example: a few days course, Mary Seacole 6-month leadership development programme, under/post graduate studies.
8. Do you also know how many management/ leadership courses were funded as a result of supportive, remedial measures following an investigation into bulling and/or harassment?
9. Do you proactively assess managers’ and workers’ competencies and skills to combat workplace bullying and harassment?
If so, what type of assessment do you undertake, how often and what staff groups does this
cover?
10. Are you actively promoting awareness and recognition of bullying in your workplace?
If yes, what initiatives have you put in place in the last 3 years? (interested not so much in targeting and focusing upon bullies but about creating a culture that makes the actions of bullying and harassment very unwelcome).
11. Do you have any operational frameworks in place that support the culture, values and behaviours of the Trust and what will not be accepted?
12. What specific actions have been taken in the last 3 years to build a culture of respect in your trust?
13. Have you made available any tools for staff to use to report bullying (anonymously or not). This does not include reporting it through the normal channels e.g. through a line manager.
If yes, please outline what tools they are.
14. What policies do you have in place related to managing bullying and harassment? Please provide copies.
Also have those policies been updated in the last 3 years with any substantial changes to strengthen it in view of the recent survey results?
15. Do your Trust use selection tools, such as written tests, performance tests and/or psychological tests to identify the right individuals for the job at your trust? This does not include the standard face to face interviews.
If yes, please outline what tools you have in place and how they are applied.
16. Does your recruitment process and appraisal processes link to the behavioural framework for managers and how is this monitored?
17. Is your Occupational Health team involved in the proactive prevention of bullying and harassment in the workplace seeing this as part of promoting and maintaining the health and wellbeing of staff?
If yes, in what way are they involved in preventing bulling ad harassment in a proactive manner?
18. Do you review and check the effectiveness of preventive measures taken? (If any).
19. Do you have a system through which employees can provide regular feedback to make it relevant and effective?
If yes, what system do you use?
20. Is your mandatory training on Equality and Diversity face to face led or e-learning? Please advise.
If face to face, what content is included specifically in respect of bulling and harassment? (Headings only)
If e-learning, have you assessed your training package and content specifically to bulling and harassment in light of recent staff survey results and did you find it effective/ fit for purpose?
21. Does your Trust Clinical and Corporate Induction programme include Equality and Diversity?
If yes, what information specific to bulling and harassment is given to new staff? (Headings only)
22. Do you have any Non-Executive Directors who act in the capacity of ‘Bullying and Harassment Advisors’, or any similar roles that offer an independent support to staff feeling bullied/harassed?
If yes, please explain the roles of those individuals.
23. Do you Trust undertake a regular risk assessment in relation to work-related stress?
If yes, which department is responsible for completing it and how are the findings acted on?
When was the last time this was undertaken?
24. What was your training compliance with regards to the Equality and Diversity training in 17-18 (by staff group) please?
25. What percentage of staff completed an exit interview in 2017-18?
Do you know how many staff left your trust in 2017-18 due to bullying and harassment being the main reason?
26. Sharing Lessons Learnt:
Do you believe your acute Trust has taken any unique steps to combat bulling and harassment that have proved successful and that you would be happy to share with other acute NHS trusts?
If yes, please outline what they are.

Download response Bullying and harassment in the NHS. 210918