NHS Forth Valley has been accused of an “avoidance of scrutiny” after failing to providing data on bullying cases.
The controversy has arisen following a Freedom of Information request from the Scottish Conservatives, querying each of Scotland’s health boards on the number of recorded incidents of bullying.
It has revealed that Forth Valley had five or fewer bullying cases in 2021-22 - the precise number is protected in the figures due to fears over the disclosure of individuals - but the health board provided no information on the other four years - 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21.
Forth Valley was the only area not to provide the information for more than one year, with Ayrshire and Arran also providing no data for 2017-18.
Across Scotland as a whole, recorded incidents of bullying increased by almost 30 per cent, from 143 cases in 2020-21 to 189 last year and in total, there have been more than 700 bullying cases reported in Scotland over the five-year period.
Mid Scotland and Fife Conservative MSP Alexander Stewart said: “The rise in bullying cases within Scotland’s NHS is deeply alarming and completely unacceptable.
“Nobody in the NHS or in any workplace should be subjected to intimidation or bullying.
“The level of information that has been unavailable or not forthcoming from NHS Forth Valley is also of great concern, as this smacks of deflection and an attempt to avoid scrutiny.
“All this workplace culture is ultimately set at the very top, so the SNP’s health secretary needs to react to this wider increase of institutional bullying right increase across the NHS in Scotland.
“These cases will have had a damaging effect on the mental health of staff who are already completely overwhelmed due to the pandemic.
“Bullying can never be tolerated and there must be proper, open procedures to allow people to speak out without fear of repercussions.”
According to the FOI request, the areas which attracted bullying complaints included: race and religion harassment and discrimination; insulting, malicious and intimidating behaviour; hostile working environments; bullying behaviours by line managers; derogatory tones; victimisation, cyber-bullying; and threatening behaviour.
Mid Scotland and Fife Tory MSP Dean Lockhart was also critical of the non-disclosure of the bullying data from Forth Valley health chiefs.
He added: “The rise in recorded bully cases across the NHS is extremely alarming.
“These figures will only show part of the problem as unfortunately many of these incidents are not reported. What I also find very worrying is the attitude taken by the Forth Valley Health Board to the request for information.
“They simply refused citing the amount of work it would take to obtain the figures, apparently attempting to hide behind an exemption available in the regulations. That is just not acceptable.
“Every other health board had their figures easily available, as I would expect given the importance of the issue.”
The latest storm follows the findings of an explosive report last year which pointed the finger at management at NHS Forth Valley in condoning high levels of “bullying and harassment” within the A&E team at Forth Valley Royal Hospital,
The Culture and Governance Review also found that nurses and doctors within the unit were left “battle-weary” and front line staff admitted they were often reduced to tears.
An NHS Forth Valley spokesperson said: “We do hold information for previous years however the way this information was recorded meant that it was not readily available which is why we provided the most current up-to-date information for the most recent financial year where there 3 reported cases.
"Changes have also been made to way we record cases which will enable us to provide annual information for future years.
"We take all cases of alleged bullying very seriously and we have also recently launched a new Speak Up initiative which provides a supportive and confidential way for staff to raise any concerns or issues at work.”
