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South East Coast Ambulance: Bullying claims to be investigated | South East Coast Ambulance: Bullying claims to be investigated |
(35 minutes later) | |
Claims of bullying at an ambulance trust are to be investigated. | Claims of bullying at an ambulance trust are to be investigated. |
Concerns about harassment at South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb) will be studied by Prof Duncan Lewis from the University of Plymouth. | Concerns about harassment at South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb) will be studied by Prof Duncan Lewis from the University of Plymouth. |
On Monday, The Daily Telegraph reported a "culture of bullying" at the trust's emergency call centre, with staff subjected to abuse and harassment. | |
Secamb said the article covered "historical allegations", most of which had been dealt with. | |
The trust commissioned the investigation, which is being funded externally by Health Education Kent, Surrey and Sussex. | |
It said the probe has been planned for weeks and was not a result of the newspaper report. The initial investigation findings are expected in the summer. | |
'Disciplinary hearings' | |
The newspaper article, based on a dossier of documents, claimed two 999 call handlers attempted suicide and a third considered crashing her car to escape abuse. | |
Several workers claimed they were under such pressure they could not concentrate on emergency calls at the operations centre in Coxheath, Kent. | |
In response to the story, the GMB union described the trust managers as "unaccountable" and called on the government to intervene. | |
A project to tackle workplace bullying is also being rolled out, as part of the trust's broader recovery with NHS Improvement. | |
A trust spokesman said it has been "extremely well received by staff so far". | |
He added: "Regarding the allegations of bullying in Coxheath, this was fully investigated at the time. | |
"A number of disciplinary hearings were held and action taken where necessary. Those staff who raised the concerns, were and continue to be fully supported by the trust." |