Bullying 'normalised' at East of England Ambulance Service

The Care Quality Commission has recommended that East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust be placed in special measures after finding a ‘negative culture’ at the organisation.

Inspectors said that ‘bullying was normalised’ at the trust and a culture of poor leadership left hospital staff afraid to speak out. The CQC says that it discovered ‘undervalued’ staff were treated ‘disrespectfully’ if they raised issues.

The CQC visited the trust, which serves Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, between 25 June and 15 July. It has since been revealed that various sources, including seven whistleblowers, voiced concerns over its ability to keep patients and staff safe from sexual abuse, inappropriate behaviour and harassment.

It emerged three EEAST employees - Luke Wright of Norwich, Christopher Gill of Hertfordshire, and Richard Grimes of Luton - had died in less than two weeks. An inquest into call handler Luke Wright's death heard he took his own life while suffering from stress and anxiety.

In February, it was discovered the trust had made 28 non-disclosure agreement payments since 2016 involving cases of bullying, harassment or abuse.

Now, the inspectorate has ordered urgent improvements after finding some senior managers did not have the right skills, knowledge and experience, as well as ‘combative and defensive’ manners.