Over 40 percent of doctors have personally witnessed or experienced bullying, Medscape UK report finds

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Medscape

31 Mar, 2022, 14:09 GMT

  • Survey of over 1,200 UK doctors gives clinicians an opportunity to 'open up' about uncomfortable situations caused by colleagues inside and outside of the workplace
  • Almost one in three (30%) respondents reported inappropriate behaviour from clinicians on social media
  • 43% of doctors feel society's expectations of their behaviour are too high

LONDON, March 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A new survey giving doctors an opportunity to speak up about controversial or unethical behaviours in their profession, conducted by Medscape UK, reveals that 40% of doctors have personally witnessed or experienced bullying by other doctors within the last five years. The report also finds that one in seven (14%) witnessed or experience sexism and that inappropriate behaviours are almost twice as likely to occur within a hospital setting than in general practice (51% vs. 33%). 

Are expectations of doctors too high?
The survey of over 1,200 UK doctors highlights that nearly half (43%) feel society's expectations of their behaviour are too high. Overall, younger doctors are most likely to think this – around twice as many under-45's as 45 and overs (60% vs 36%). These results show younger generations want more freedom to behave as they wish in their private lives. However, they also seem more aware of work ethics as millennials are more likely to admit they mistakenly or knowingly behaved inappropriately as a doctor in the past year (15% vs 11% for Gen X and 9% for baby boomers).

Yet, only around one in five (18%) said these doctors were disciplined by their workplace or medical organisation for displaying inappropriate behaviour in public. On top of this, when witnessing inappropriate behaviour, one in three (33%) doctors said they did 'not take any action', and younger doctors were more likely not to report it (51% for millennials vs 27% for Gen X and 29% for baby boomers).

Doctors' behaving badly on social media
The report also looks into inappropriate behaviours on social media, which were reported by almost one in three (30%) respondents. Inappropriate comments about themselves, friends, or politic was the most common (72%) behaviour witnessed/experienced in the last five years, followed by posting inappropriate pictures of themselves or sexually suggestive material. One in five (21%) reported doctors posting inappropriate comments about patients, with around one in ten (9%) saying they had witnessed doctors posting inappropriate pictures of patients.

Controversial selfies and photographs are among the concerns raised by the survey respondents:

  • One in 20 (5%) said they had personally seen a colleague taking an inappropriate selfie in a medical situation, such as during a consultation, in an operating theatre, or a morgue
  • One in ten (9%) said they'd personally seen a doctor take a non-selfie photograph in one of these environments.

Reassuringly, over 9 respondents out of 10 (88%) thought that doctors take patient confidentiality and privacy laws seriously, and the BMA guidance on social media calls doctors to adhere to the same professional standards when communicating online.

For more findings, view the full report on Medscape: http://medscape.com/uk-doctors-misbehaving-report-2022

About Medscape UK Doctors Misbehaving Report 2022

Medscape UK conducted a survey of 1,266 practising UK Medscape and Univadis member doctors, with respondents broken down as follows:

  • Male: 54%
  • Female: 41%
  • Prefer to self-describe: 5%

The recruitment period for conducting this survey was from 16th October to 17th December 2021.

The findings from this report are based on unweighted data, collected from a random sampling of Medscape and Univadis members, and are not necessarily projectable to a larger population.

About Medscape

Medscape is the leading source of clinical news, health information, and point-of-care tools for healthcare professionals. Medscape offers specialists, primary care doctors, and other health professionals the most robust and integrated medical information and educational tools. Medscape Education (medscape.org) is the leading destination for continuous professional development, consisting of more than 30 specialty-focused destinations offering thousands of free C.M.E. and C.E. courses and other educational programs for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.

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