Medics relocated after toxic culture found at unit

Resident doctors have been relocated from their placements in a hospital department after a review revealed reports of misogyny, rudeness and aggression.

The medics working in Basildon University Hospital's anaesthetics unit said they were subjected to "sexually inappropriate remarks" by male consultants and chaotic behaviour.

The hospital is part of the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust and NHS England carried out an education quality review at the site in May and June.

Christine Blanshard, the chief medical officer for the trust, said: "All staff deserve to work in a safe, supportive, and respectful environment, and we always take action to address any poor behaviours."

The review stated that female residents received comments about their appearance.

One consultant was found to have invited a member of theatre staff on holiday and stated that they would have sex with the colleague.

On another occasion, a test fire alarm went off and the consultant suggested the resident was hot and had set the alarm off.

"Residents perceived a permissive attitude and culture that did not challenge inappropriate behaviours," the report stated.

The investigation also found that sometimes on-call consultant supervision was inadequate.

The report stated trainee anaesthetics residents were often left alone in theatre without access to supervision, "which left residents working outside their scope of confidence and competence".

The report said that the resident doctors from the department had been relocated to other trust sites following the investigation.

Resident doctors felt subjected to very intense situations of repeated chaotic behaviours by consultants at the department, the report said.

The medics said they were concerned that training at Basildon Hospital would result in "learning improper practice", the report stated.

Basildon Hospital is one of three hospitals run by the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust and was rated as inadequate by the Care Quality Commission in October.

A spokesperson from the General Medical Council said: "We placed the trust into our enhanced monitoring process following serious concerns about the quality of training in the anaesthetics department.

"Our priority is to make sure doctors in training receive high standards of training, and do so in an environment that is inclusive, supportive and fair.

"This is imperative to both the wellbeing of doctors in training and the safety of patients."

Ms Blanshard added the trust took "immediate action as soon as concerns were raised by resident doctors".

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