Accused of bullying at work

[Workinmu]

I work in the NHS as consultant. I have been asked to take someone as a secretary for my NHS patients, who is also doing a lot of private secretary work for my fellow consultants. So I thought she would not be able to get the NHS work done for me to look after my NHS patients . But my line didn’t give me a choice so effectively I have forced to work with this person for a couple of years. As I expected her work was not upto the standards I expected so I repeatedly sent emails to my line managers to change her. Now she has filed a complaint against me saying that I have been bullying her but I have never spoken to her in person and all our communication was via email. My line manager is not very supportive as she was the one who appointed her. I have a feeling that my colleagues are ganging up against me to to get rid of me . I am very stressed about this and don’t know how to deal with this. Any professional advice from people with the know how would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

Yeah, I've also worked with gaslighting bullying managers who swore left was right when it came to putting staff in the wrong and who swerved the issue when bullying claims were made. So it works both ways.

Absolutely not disputing that the wrong person may have been appointed however I think you may have to take some accountability for your lack of Comms and expectations setting, reading between the lines.

Speak to your union if you haven't already.

For instance 'don't comment unless you know the full context ' seems to be an example of poor communication and odd expectations. How would we know anything unless you have clearly laid it out? I suspect you may not be communicating as well as you think.

Language may be a part of that but it is incumbent upon you to make yourself understood.

Conciliation may be the way forward here. Did you try any of this? Checking in, picking up shortfall at an early and asking what was the issue and what would be a good solution? I still don't get the no meeting in person. Was she working remotely?

I certainly don't think picking up the slack was a good idea. From now on, if her part of the process isn't done, you don't do it. This will demonstrate better that she is not on top of her brief.

I certainly don't think picking up the slack was a good idea. From now on, if her part of the process isn't done, you don't do it. This will demonstrate better that she is not on top of her brief.

in another job, I would agree with you, but in the context of the NHS if the OP has been sending out correspondence because it wasn't being done, thank goodness for them. Not ideal but if a letter or some form of report being produced and sent out saves someone's life, we have to see that side of it.

it sounds like a very complex situation, and I'd recommend the OP contacts their union and HR to talk through the full facts. We don't know all angles.

This is an all too common theme in the NHS, from someone who has been a nurse in the NHS For many years. It seems people who don't do their jobs properly get backed and supported, especially when they give crocodile tears and then claim they are being bullied. When in fact they have just manipulated it to cover their inability to do their job. Go to your freedom to speak up guardian where you work and contact your union for advice too. Print out all the copies of emails youve sent her and start to build a portfolio of evidence of all the work you've done, that she should have done.

Well yes that's a very fair point if it was that behind.

To add, I have a lot of sympathy for the OP here, she sounds really conscious. I just think it might be a lot less ballache to approach this with an idea of what she could have done differently and may in future

Conscientious FFS!

@Workinmu contact the BMA if you are a member. Also join doctors forums on facebook. There will be lots of advice

You already decided she couldn't do the job before she started. You only communicate via email and you went straight to your line manager?

From her perspective it could be seen that you already didn't like her, won't communicate other than in formal writing/emails and complain to your manager about her without telling her there are concerns first.

This likely isn't the case or you wouldn't be posting in here with concerns but I'd advise speaking to your union rep or hr department and clear up your side of what has happened. How it could have been interpreted does not read well and these behaviours could be misconstrued

Hope it gets resolved quickly

^Is she meeting the standard for getting clinic letters out to GPs etc?
This is the one of the main issues. I ended up getting a lot done myself after finishing my clinic.^

This is one of the things I don't understand. In my experience the consultant normally dictates any clinic letters, referrals etc straight after the clinic. In our trust we have seven days to turn these around. If something is urgent it will be marked urgent and picked up straight away.

Why/in what way are you doing what the secretary should be doing when your clinic is finished when it seems all you should be doing is dictating letters, arranging tests etc and then waiting for the the letters to appear for your approval. Obviously I know there is a lot more to it but basically I can't see what/why you are doing that your secretary should be.

Am just slightly confused about this part.

I agree with this op. I’m also concerned you don’t seem willing to look at your side, but instead have decided it’s racism, which it may well be, but you’ve hardly covered yourself in glory here, not speaking to her, feeling forced to work with her, multiple emails asking for her to be fired.

you need to try to think and articulate yourself clearly and coherently.

if you’re overwhelmed and need more time with your kids. Speak to your manager,

if you feel you’re subject to racial discrimination then collate evidence and speak to hr.

if you feel you’ve not been bullying this woman, and it doesn’t look exactly like you have not been, then prepare your case to specify why this was not the case, how you’ve tried to work with this woman, the support, guidance, and instruction you have given.

Refusing from the outset to have any interaction with her beyond (probably extremely terse) emails, having decided from the outset that she wouldn't be able to do the role that her managers had directed her to do (in full knowledge of the other duties she had) and then immediately campaigning to get rid of this woman really does sound like bullying. Similar is often given as an example of workplace bullying and victimisation.

This is separate to any experiences of racism between the medical team/management - it is possible to be a victim of racism and also do something yourself that is in breach of workplace policies/employment law to somebody else. Or by bullying a secretary given a heavy workload, you've given a racist employer exactly what they needed to get rid of you, whether or not the problem is actually her performance or workload, whether you've failed to provide her with clinic letters and you're claiming you're doing them because she won't/isn't good enough to deflect from things you have failed to do.

You're going to need union support.

I made my comment based on the information you provided and how you provided it.

If I don't know what's going on it's because the information isn't there. Admin staff are admin and can't be expected to know something (unless it's about process) unless you explicitly tell them.

What's going on with you and this person is either a lack of communication and your attitude towards her because you were already biased in the first place. Or because she doesn't want to do your work.

It also begs the question, if you are both NHS staff why is she doing private work in NHS time that the taxpayer is paying for and why haven't you complained about that!

I would also like to know how you know she is doing private work in NHS time instead of yours.

Not saying it's not possible but not sure how you would know if you never see her to see what she is doing.

All the more reason not to communicate solely by email. If you've never even spoken to this person she might not be aware that English isn't your first language.

You sound like a poor manager. But you need to get evidence of all your 1:1 with this person, any actions you emailed to her and evidence they have not been completed. As your communication is poor I suspect this person has no idea what you expect of them. Not ever seeing them is very poor on your part and if i was your manager i would be asking you about this. Double check what you have sent her, could any of it be seen as being written in a bullying manner.

One of the issues is the OP will not be the secretary's line manager, they will be in a different management structure. Consultant's line manager will be medical director snd secretary's will be admin manager.
The OP will not be having 1 to 1s with the secretary. If she's addressed the issues informally with the secretary then the next step would be a complaint to her line manager, which it sounds like OP has done already

I think the fact that you have sent many emails about her but never actually sat and had a discussion about it with her doesn't look great for you as a manager.

Why not sit down and explain how you'd like things done, how she could improve and give her an opportunity to develop? Rather than just emailing your manager to switch?

I've managed people for a long time, starting in middle management and eventually ended up on a board, with performance issues i've always given the employee chance to improve. Good communication is the number one key to good line management.

How would you feel if your boss just complained to their boss about you without giving you the opportunity to improve?

NHS too. Sadly in my experience Consultants are bullies, particularly towards those who they see as their subordinates. It’s rife in the NHS.

Why is there a lot of racism in the NHS? What do people do about it? What have you done about it?